Palawan Massacre

New arrivals at Puerto Princesa’s Camp 10-A first encountered the imposing twin towers of the facility’s entrance.

The Palawan massacre occurred on 14 December 1944, during World War II, near the city of Puerto Princessa in the Philippine province of Palawan. Allied soldiers, imprisoned near the city, were killed by Imperial Japanese soldiers. Only eleven men managed to survive.

Background

On 12 August 1942, 300 American prisoners arrived on two transport ships, survivors of the Battle of Bataan and the Battle of Corregidor. They were interned in the old Philippine Constabulary barracks, referred to as Palawan's Prison Camp 10A, or Palawan Barracks. They would spend the next two years clearing an area 2,400 by 225 yards (2,195 by 206 m), and then building a 8-inch-thick (20 cm) concrete runway, 1,530 by 75 yards (1,399 by 69 m), using only hand tools, wheelbarrows and two small cement mixers. The prisoners were also forced to build revetments for 150 Japanese planes. Sick and useless prisoners were switched with healthier ones out of Manila during construction. On 22 September 1944, half of the prisoners were sent back to Manila. By October 1944, the airstrip and nearby harbor came under allied attack. The prisoners were forced to dig bomb shelters within the prison compound, consisting of trenches 5 feet (1.5 m) deep and 4 feet (1.2 m) wide. Shelter A held 50 men, Shelter B held 35, and Shelter C held up to 30, and were augmented by smaller 2–3 man shelters. Shelter had a hidden exit that extended beyond the camp's barbed wire to a 60-foot (18 m) cliff overlooking the bay. Army Capt. Fred Bruni was the senior officer amongst the prisoners. Dr. Carl Mango, and Dr. Henry Knight, a dentist, were also amongst the prison population. Beatings were common, and rations eventually reduced to a mess kit of rice per day. There were 4 prison escape attempts. The first, on 11 August 1942, was made by 6 prisoners, 5 of whom were able to join the Filipino guerrillas at Brooke's Point in south Palawan. The second attempt, on 29 August 1942, by 2 prisoners was also successful through the aid of friendly Filipino guides. The third in February 1943, and the fourth on 28 June 1943, were not successful.

In August 1944, 1800 men of the 131st Battalion, 2nd Air Division, were assigned to defend the airfield, under the command of Capt. Kojima. In December 1944, he sought advice "as to action to take regarding the POWs at the time of enemy landing." Lt. Gen. Seiichi Terada, 2nd Air Division commander, after conferring with Gen. Tominaga, 4th Army Commander, sent the following reply: 

At the time of the enemy landing, if the POWs are harboring an enemy feeling, dispose of them at the appropriate time.

Massacre

In order to prevent the rescue of prisoners of war by the advancing Allies, on 14 December 1944, units of the Japanese Fourteenth Area Army under the command of General Tomoyuki Yamashita, brought the POWs back to their own camp. An air raid warning was sounded to get the prisoners into the shelter trenches, the 150 prisoners of war at Puerto Princesa entered those air raid shelters; A, B, and C. The Japanese soldiers set them on fire using barrels of gasoline. The Japanese soldiers doused the entrances of the shelters with gasoline before lighting them on fire, then fired shots into the entrances to strike POWs in order to use the dead or dying POWs at the entrance to trap the other POWs deeper in the bunker in the inferno. They began the process with shelter A which was deep inside the camp. A few POWs from that shelter did manage to escape with burning clothing but were cut down by machine gun fire. Upon seeing that, the POWs in the other two shelters were alerted and attempted to dig themselves out. Relatively more fortunately, shelter B & C were located next to a cliff at the edge of the camp, so the escaping POWs dug themselves out towards the direction of the cliff before the two shelters were set alight. It was estimated about two dozen prisoners managed to get out before the shelters were set alight. However, for those POWs, their ordeal was not over for the Japanese soldiers upon seeing that some POWs manage to escape the shelter then sent out a hunting party to hunt down those escaping POWs. Only 11 men completely escaped the slaughter and made it back to friendly lines; 139 were killed.

Those 11 that did escape to southern Palawan, and eventual rescue, were aided by Filipino scouts and guerrillas under the command of Nazario Mayor.

Upon receiving the news, Major general Charles A. Willoughby dispatched a navy PBY Catalina to link up with the scouts at Brooke's Point to pick up the surviving POW's and fly them to allied controlled Morotai; which the Japanese garrison on the island surrendered back in September.

Aftermath

On February 28, the 8th Army landed on Palawan as part of Operation VICTOR III and it is believed that many of the perpetrators of the massacre were killed in action or went missing defending the island in that campaign including the camp commanding officer Lieutenant Yoshikazu "Buzzard" Sato, who carried out the massacre. Palawan garrison battalion commander Captain Nagayoshi Kojima, and garrison company commander Lieutenant Sho Yoshiwara were also missing in action and were not among the Japanese soldiers defending Palawan to surrender after the American campaign to retake the island.

Bones of the victims were discovered in early 1945. 

General Tomoyuki Yamashita took the full blame and was charged with the Palawan massacre and other war crimes committed in the Philippines at his trial in 1945 under the doctrine of command responsibility. Under the principle that would later become known as the Yamashita Standard, he was convicted and hanged on 23 February 1946.

After the war, survivors Glenn McDole and Doug Bogue helped the US War Crimes Branch identify former guards and officers detained in Sugamo Prison, and interrogated in Tokyo's Dai-Ichi Building. Of the 33 charged with war crimes, 16 were put on trial, and 6 were acquitted. Those found guilty on 8 November 1948 included Lt. Gen. Seiichi Terada, sentenced to a life term, the Camp's Kempeitai commander Master Sergeant Taichi Deguchi, sentenced to be hanged but later commuted to a 30-year sentence by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Superior Private Tomisaburo Sawa, sentenced to 5 years, head cook Manichi Nishitani, sentenced to 5 years, Lt. Gen. Kizo Mikama, sentenced to 12 years and Lt. Col. Mamoru Fushimi, sentenced to 10 years, while the remaining four were sentenced to 2–5 years. However, on December 31, 1958, all those remaining in prison were freed under a general amnesty for Japanese war crimes prisoners.

The diary of a Japanese sergeant major had the following entry for 15 December 1944: 

Due to the sudden change of situation, the 150 prisoners of war were executed. Those who escaped were discovered this morning in the Puerto Princessa antiaircraft trench and were shot. They truly died a pitiful death.

Another officer, Lieutenant Colonel Satoshi Oie, was tried separately. He was found guilty of crimes related to the murders of Filipino and Chinese civilians, sentenced to death, and executed by firing squad in Japan on 23 October 1948.

Appearance in Literature

The massacre most recently has been the subject of the book As Good as Dead, the Daring Escape of American POWs From a Japanese Death Camp by Stephen L. Moore and also the basis for the book Last Man Out: Glenn McDole, USMC, Survivor of the Palawan Massacre in World War II by Bob Wilbanks, and the opening scenes of the 2005 Miramax film, The Great Raid.

Evidence of the episode has been recorded by two of the eleven survivors: Glenn McDole and Rufus Willie Smith from the 4th US Marines.

Survivors of the Palawan Massacre

Balchus, William J. – I Btry, 60th CA Regt. (AA)

Barta, Fern Joseph – U.S. Navy

Bogue, Douglas W. – A Co, 1st Bn, 4th Marine Regt.

Daniels, Tommy T. "Pops" – Army Air Corps

Deal, Elmo V. – A Btry, 59th CA Regt.

Koblos, Ernest J. – C Btry, 59th CA Regt.

Mc Dole, Glen – M Co, 1st Bn, 4th Marine Regt.

Nielsen, Eugene – B Btry, 59th CA Regt.

Pacheco, Alberto D. – Hq. Btry, 200th CA Regt (AA)

Petry, Edwin A. – 7th Matl. Sqdn, 19th Bomb. Gp. (H)

Smith, Rufus W. "Smitty" – L Co, 3rd Bn, 4th Marine Regt.

Victims of the Palawan Massacre

This list is the culmination to date of exhaustive research done with documents from the National Archives.  It appears that a final resolution of all victims was never made.  The survivors of the massacre provided invaluable information to the fullest extent possible.  It is known that Japanese captors murdered 139 prisoners of war on December 14, 1944 in the city of Puerta Princessa on the island of Palawan.

The first list is the name, rank (where possible), branch of service, and hometown (where possible) of 133 victims.  The documentary evidence for these men is overwhelming.  The second list of eight men are those where the evidence is contradictory.  As late as 1952, attempts were being made to account for all the victims.

Name – Rank – Branch of Service – Hometown

ADAMS, Jewett Franklin; T/Sgt.; USMC; Canton, Georgia

ADKINS, Robert Arthur;  Cpl.; USMC; Enterprise, Oregon

ANDERSON, Robert Sterling;  Pvt.; Army; Harper, Washington

ARAUJO, Henry H.;  Sgt.; Army; Denver, Colorado

ARISPE, Heraclio;  Pfc.; Army; Corpus Christi, Texas

BAILEY, Homer R.;  Pfc.; Army; Ardmore, Oklahoma

BANCROFT, Everett Richard; Pfc.; Army; Canon City, Colorado

BARNES, Carl Ellis; WT 2c; Navy; Bakersfield, California

BARNES, Darrell Leroy; AOM 3c; Navy; Bayonne, New Jersey

BARTLE, Charles Warren; Sgt.; Army; Coffeyville, Kansas

BEASON, Benjamin Franklin; T/Sgt.; Army; Canyon, Texas

BLACKBURN, Wilbur Burdett; TM 2c; Navy; Wichita, Kansas

BOUCHEY, Mason J.; Pvt.; Army; Saginaw, Michigan

BROWN, William Theodore; Pfc.; Army; Antioch, California

BRUNI Fred Tobias; Capt.: Army; Janesville, Wisconsin

BUCHANAN, Vernon Edward; MM 3c; Navy; Turner, Kansas

BURNETT, Douglas; Cpl.; Army; LeGrande, Oregon

CALDWELL, Sammy Lee; Pfc.; USMC; San Angelo, Texas

CARTER, Casey; Pvt.; Army; Paris, Texas

CHILDERS, Roy R.; Pvt.; Army; New Berlin, Illinois

CHOATE, James Louis; Pvt.; Army; Madisonville, Kentucky

COOK, Harry; Aerog 1c; Navy; Detroit, Michigan

CRANDELL, Earl Jesse; Pvt.; Army; Scipio, Oklahoma

CRAVENS, William Thomas; Pvt.; Army; Port Royal, Kentucky

CULLINS, Franklin Ashley; Pvt.; Army; Black Oak, Arkansas

CZAJKOWSKI, John; Pfc.; Army; Nichols, Wisconsin

DIAZ, John F.: Pfc.; Army; Osage, Iowa

DUTTON, Glen Albert; Pfc.; Army; Reno, Nevada

ELIX, Clayton Emmett; Pfc.; Army; Pueblo, Colorado

EVANS, Erving August; Cpl.; Army; Huron, South Dakota

EYRE, George Robert; Pfc.; Army; Marion, Ohio

FLETCHER, Houston Everett; Pfc.; Army; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

FRYAR, William Ferson; Pfc.; USMC; Apollo, Pennsylvania

GEE, Jessie Roy; Cpl.; Army; Yuba City, California

GIUFFREDA, Mike Paul; Pvt.; Army; San Jose, California

GILLESPIE, Bill Edmond; S1c; Navy; Dallas, Texas

GLACKEN, Joseph Charles, Jr.; Pfc.; USMC; St. Louis, Missouri

GLOVER, Sammy; Pfc.; Army; Daisetta, Texas

GOODYKOONTZ, Richard Eugene; Pvt.; Army; Marion, Indiana

GRAHNERT, James Dewey; Cpl.; USMC; Vancouver, Washington or Rapid City, South Dakota

HALE, Waldo Stedem; S1c; Navy; Saybrook, Illinois

HAMMOCK, William Lester, Jr.; Sgt.; USMC; Boyle, Mississippi

HAMRIC, Dane Hampton; Cpl.; Army; Widen, West Virginia

HANSEN, Kenneth Russell; Pfc.; USMC; Morro Bay, California

HARBIN, Lenton Roger; S/Sgt.; Army; West Palm Beach, Florida

HARRIS, John Solomon; TM2c; Navy; Monticello, Georgia

HAWKINS, Douglas Forrest; Pvt.; Army; Coeburn, Virginia

HENDERSON, Clifford Marlin; Pfc.; USMC; Levi, West Virginia

HENDERSON, Joseph Patrick; Pvt.; Army; Los Angeles, California

HICKS, Roy Joseph; S/Sgt.; Army; Crestview, Florida

HINCKLE, Miner Columbus; Pvt.; Army; Ada, Oklahoma

HUBBARD, Hugh Boyd; Pvt.; Army; Yarnell, Arizona

HUBBARD, Robert Lee; brothers Cpl.; Army; Yarnell, Arizona

Note: The previous two men are brothers.

HUGHES, John F., Jr.; PlSgt.; USMC; Waynesboro, Virginia

HUSTON, Tom Virgil; Pvt.; Army; Modesto, California

HUTCHINSON, Fred Wallace; Pfc.; Army; Los Angeles, California

JACOBSON, Charles Donald; Pfc.; Army; Denver, Colorado

JOHNSON, Aubrey Peyton; Pfc.; USMC; Winnsboro, Louisiana

JOYNER, Earl Esell; Pfc.; USMC; Goshen Springs, Mississippi

KAZLAUSKAS, Joseph Richard; Pvt.; Army; Lowell, Massachusetts

KERNES, Richard Wilfred; Pfc.; USMC; Woodward, Iowa

KING, Harold Wayne; Pvt.; Army; Great Bend, Kansas

KNIGHT, Henry Carlisle; Lt. Cdr.; Navy; Portland, Oregon (?)

KOERNER, Richard Aloysis; S/Sgt.; Army; Ellis, Kansas

KOZUCH, Stephen Thaddeus; Pfc.; USMC; Chicago, Illinois

LAMOUNTAIN, Arthur Lawrence; S1c; Navy; Mineral Falls, Massachusetts

LAMPSHIRE, Leo Nick; Sgt.; Army; Lansdown, Pennsylvania

LEWIS, Kenneth Leaman; Pfc.; Army; Taunton, Massachusetts

LINDSAY, Forest Edison; Pfc.; Army; Vale, North Carolina

LINDSEY, Kenneth Clyde; Pfc.; USMC; Gillette, Wyoming

LYONS, John Aloysis; Pvt.; Army; Staples, Minnesota

MCANANY, Richard Emmett;Tech.4; Army; Conemaugh, Pennsylvania

MCELVEEN, William Muton; Pvt.; Army; New Orleans, Louisiana

MCNALLY, Theodore; CMM(AA); Navy; Kansas City, Missouri

MANGO, Carl Louis; 1st Lt. (MD); Army; Erie, Pennsylvania

MANZI, George Vincente; S/Sgt.; Army; Bridgeport, Connecticut

MARTYN, Donald Joseph; Pfc.; USMC; New York, New York

MASCARENAS, Jose E.T.; Pvt.; Army; Penasco, Taos, New Mexico

MILLION, Joe Baxter; S/Sgt.; Army; Harrodsburg, Kentucky

MOFFATT, Fred Vincent; Pvt.; Army; Moline, Illinois

MOORE, Roger Garland; Sgt.; Army; Monroe, Louisiana

MORRIS, E.C.; Pfc.; USMC; Jacksboro, Texas

MORRIS, Orland Otis; Cpl.; USMC; Boise, Idaho

NEWELL, Frank Robert; Pvt.; Army; North Tonawanda, New York

NOEL, Harry; Pvt.; Army; Chicago, Illinois

NOVAK, Ernest Julian; Pvt.; Army; Watsonville, California

OTERO, Trinidad Fidel; Pvt.; Army; Wilard, New Mexico

PITTS, James A.; Pfc.; Army; Winter Garden, Florida

PRICE, Dillard; Pfc.; USMC; Magnolia, Arkansas

RANKIN, Homer Franklin; Cpl.; Army; Freeport, Kansas

RAY, Daniel Woodrow; Pfc.; USMC; Travis County, Texas

RECTOR, Vernon William; Pfc.; Army; Phoenix, Arizona

RIGAS, Peter Tom (born in Greece); Pfc.; USMC; Chicago, Illinois

RHOADES, Arthur Wayne; Pvt.; Army; Fort Wayne, Indiana

ROE, James Howard; S1c; Navy; Strand, Oklahoma

RUDD, James Rollie; Pvt.; Army; Cutuno, Kentucky

SAIZ, Santiago Sannedra; Pvt.; Army; Peralta, New Mexico

SANCHEZ, John; Pfc.; Army; Kansas City, Missouri

SCALLY, Henry Fredrick; 1/Sgt.; Army; Silver City, New Mexico

SCHUBERT, Charles Augustus; T/Sgt.; Army; Albuquerque, New Mexico

SCHULTZ, Edward Joseph; Cpl.; USMC; Brighton, Wisconsin

SEAGRAVES, Raymond Lewis; Pfc.; USMC; Little Elm. Texas

SIERRA, Gabriel Jr.; Pvt.; Army; Randsburg, California

SIMPSON, Jesse Herschel; Pfc.; USMC; Dunning, Nebraska

SIRFUS, Charlie; Pfc.; Army; Des Moines, Iowa

SKAGGS, Owen Neil; Pfc.; USMC; Holdenville, Oklahoma

SKIDMORE, George McClelland; Pfc.; USMC; Pennington Gap, Virginia

SMITH, Charles Carlyle; SM2c; Navy; Guntersville, Alabama

SMITH, Julio Forest; MM2c; Navy; Indianapolis, Indiana

SMITH, Kenneth Otto; Pfc.; Army; Hoisington, Kansas

SPINDLER, Carrol Frank; Sgt.; Army; Edwardsville, Illinois

STANLEY, Dervert Eugene; Pvt.; Army; Dallas, Texas

STANLEY, John Marvin; Pvt.; Army; Lakeview, Texas

STEVENSON, Robert Louis; Pvt.; Army; Muskegon, Michigan

STIDHAM, James Houston; Sgt.; Army; Hardshell, Kentucky

STREET, Charles Hiram; Cpl.; Army; Santa Cruz, California

STUTTS, Harding Elwood; Pfc.; Army; Pinetta, Florida

SWEANY, Leslie Irwin; Pfc.; Army; Hamilton, Missouri

SWINNEY, Homer Everett; Pfc.; Army; Hawk Point, Missouri

TEEL, Glen Eugene; Pfc.; Army; Columbus Junction, Iowa

TERRY, Jolly E.; Pvt.; Army; Cache, Oklahoma

THOMAS, Delbert Raymond; Pfc.; Army; Wellington, Kansas

TURNER, Glenn C.; WO/JG; Navy; San Antonio, Texas

UBALLE, Joseph John; S/Sgt.; Army; Boone, Iowa

VITATOE, Ted Edgar; Pvt.; Army; Rockwood, Tennessee

WADDELL, George McClelland; Pfc.; USMC; Versailles, Missouri

WALKER, Carl M.; S/Sgt.; Army; Elizabeth City, North Carolina

WALKER, George Murray; Cpl.; USMC; Columbia, South Carolina

WARREN, John Otis; Pfc.; USMC; Dekalb, Mississippi

WHITECOTTON, Horace; Pvt.; Army; Mesa, Arizona

WILLIAMS, John Grant; Pfc.; USMC; Eldorado, Kansas

WILLIAMS, Maurice Scott, Jr.; Sgt.; USMC; Omaha, Nebraska

YEAST, Willard Rue; Pvt.; Army; Harrodsburg, Kentucky

This list of eight men is those whose documentary evidence is in some degree of doubt. 

ARNOLDY, Arthur Anton; Cpl.; USMC; Tipton, Kansas

This man's serial number belonged to BAKER, Herbert.  Baker's next of kin were notified.

BAKER, Herbert; Army

No death certificate was issued as far as is known but his name does appear on the headstone of the mass grave in St. Louis, Missouri.

BAKER, John L.; Army

A death certificate was found with the others, but a list from 1952 states that he was evacuated to the U.S. on 12 September 1945, then killed in an auto accident on 3 December 1945.

MULLINS, Levi D. Jr.; Army

This man appears on many lists but a letter written in 1948 states that he was returned to military control.

RAY (or REA), Harry Francis; Army

Same as Mullins

SHALLEY (SEALLEY?), Charles Earl; Army

This man appears on every list but there is no death certificate and his name is not on the headstone. (Many names are not on the headstone because some of the families requested remains to be interred in family burial plots.)

SNYDER, Cecil J.; Army

Death certificate not found but his name is on the headstone and some of the lists.

SNYDER, Robert Q.; Army

Same as Mullins

WILLIAMS, Bill; USMC

There is some evidence that this is a nickname for one of the other Williams that is on the first list.

 

U.S. medical men are attempting to identify more than 100 American Prisoners of War captured at Bataan and Corregidor and burned alive by the Japanese at a Prisoner of War camp, Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippine Islands Picture shows charred remains being interred in grave, 20 March 1945.

Burial Site of the Palawan Massacre, 14 December 1944.

The burned-out hulls of prison buildings at Puerto Princesa, Palawan Island, in the Philippines, where more than a hundred American POWs were slaughtered by their Japanese captors on 14 December 1944.

When the Palawan air raid shelters were excavated after the war, charred bones were uncovered, packed in the dirt and debris. The teeth were used to try to identify the remains of the POWs, most of whom had been captured at Bataan.

An aerial view of the Palawan POW camp in 1947. The Japanese had allowed the Americans to paint “American Prisoner of War Camp” on the roof of their barracks.

The interior of a dormitory at Palawan shows the wooden beds on which the American POWs slept.

Navy Radioman 1st Class Joseph Barta survived the Palawan massacre and went to the War Crimes Trials in Yokohama to testify about the atrocities.

Vice Admiral Hasashi Kobayashi, the Japanese delegate to the Geneva Convention and former commander in chief of the Japanese Fourth Fleet, leaves the court under guard. Kobayashi was held responsible for the Palawan massacre, committed by units under his command.

Japanese sounded fake alert and when American POWs took cover in this air raid shelter, the Japanese poured gas in shelter, set it on fire.

Medical personnel excavate bodies of American soldiers from Shelter A.

Photo of recovery effort as the bodies of murdered soldiers were excavated from Shelter B.

Recovery operations underway at Camp 10-A. U.S. officers and medical personnel examine remains of American POWs killed in the Palawan Massacre. The investigators are looking for anything that might help in the identification of the victims.

Finished Palawan airfield for the Imperial Japanese Army before being bombed by the U.S.

An aerial view of American B-24s over Puerto Princesa Airfield, Palawan. The airfields at Puerto Princesa were constructed by the American POWs from Camp 10-A nearby, who in the fall of 1944 also were forced to make repairs on an almost daily basis.

Aerial view of invasion activities at Puerto Princesa, Palawan, February 2, 1945.

Entrance to Camp 10-A, Puerta Princesa, Palawan, Philippine Islands, taken after the island had been retaken by American Forces.

View from inside the camp looking out to the main entrance. Prisoners were often tied to the ‘torture trees’ that lined the road.

Flag-draped coffins prior to interment.

General Douglas A. MacArthur and members of his staff visit the site of the Palawan Massacre. The mass execution at Palawan triggered several rescue operations to ensure similar massacres did not take place.

Survivors Joe Barta, Mac McDole and Doug Bogue confer with an intelligence officer after their return to the United States in 1945.

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri.