The Great Raid

U.S. Army Rangers and Filipino guerrillas mount a daring raid deep behind Japanese lines to liberate over 500 American prisoners of war held at Cabanatuan camp. The film intercuts the planning and execution of the raid with the suffering of prisoners and a resistance nurse smuggling medicine into the camp. It culminates in one of the most successful POW rescues in American military history.

The raid at Cabanatuan on January 30, 1945, freed over 500 survivors of the Bataan Death March and other POWs just as Japanese forces were preparing to execute them, as had happened at Palawan. It was carried out by the 6th Ranger Battalion alongside Filipino guerrilla units and is regarded as one of the most successful rescue missions of the war.

The film is closely based on historical accounts and named participants, though it compresses events and adds dramatized personal storylines for the nurse Margaret Utinsky.

Directed by John Dahl

Cast: Benjamin Bratt, James Franco, Joseph Fiennes, Connie Nielsen

Positioned at January 28-30, 1945 within the 1945 phase of the war, as part of the Philippines Campaign. This is entry 134 of 150 in the chronological archive.

• Cabanatuan
• POW rescue
• Army Rangers
• Philippines
• Bataan

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  Bataan

  Early 1942

• 

  They Were Expendable

  December 1941 – April 1942

• 

  So Proudly We Hail!

  December 1941 – May 1942

• 

  Back to Bataan

  1942–1945

• 

  Flags of Our Fathers

  February-March 1945

• 

  Sands of Iwo Jima

  February-March 1945