THE ESCAPE OF SIX AMERICAN POW'S FROM CAMP 10-A, PALAWAN Reel 1 · Part 1

Description

SUMMARY: The escape of six American POW's from Camp 10A, Palawan. The following men tell their story Corporal William J. Balchus, Private First Class Ernest J. Kobloso, Private First Class Eugene Nielson, Corporal Albert D. Pacheco, Private First Class Edwin A. Petry, and Marine Rufus W. Smith. An MIS-X officer questions the men. Each man briefly tells how he became a prisoner. Several of the men describe their experiences before they were brought to the camp at Peurta Princessa, Palawan, and of the conditions there. One man describes the famous death March to San Fernando. One man describes the murder by Japanese of American prisoners by forcing them to enter a bomb shelter, pouring gasoline into the shelter, setting the gasoline alight and then firing upon the men who attempted to escape. The soldier telling the story described how, crashing through the barbed wire with a companion, he ran to the coast, jumped off a low cliff, hid on the beach until nightfall, and then swam across a bay where they were found by friendly Filipinos. The men were later evacuated to Morotai by 13th Air Force Catalina. One of the soldiers described the poor food and the absence of medical care afforded the prisoners by the Japanese.

Collection

National Archives Collection of Foreign Records Seized

Series

Motion Picture Films From G-2 Army Military Intelligence Division