62 pages • 2 hours read
Hampton SidesGhost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2001A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Book 2, Chapters 10-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Book 2: “Harrow Hell”
Book 2, Chapter 10 Summary
The C Company Rangers were moving closer to the main gate of Cabanatuan. Mucci was surprised that his request for an airplane decoy, a P-61 airplane known as the “Black Widow,” went through as intended. Twenty-six-year-old Kenneth Schrieber was the plane’s pilot. The flight received the desired reaction from the Japanese, “instill[ing] fear [and] attract[ing] attention” (321). The plane’s feint maneuvers even mimicked a crash-like scenario to further confuse the Japanese. Prince’s C Company reached the ditch across from the road leading to the locked gate at 7:30pm and waited for F Company to make the move in the rear.
Meanwhile, Juan Pajota’s 200 Filipino guerillas were already in position, hiding in a field along the highway outside the camp. They were close enough that they could hear the Japanese conversation carried by the wind. The guerillas left 20 landmines on the road because there were no Japanese guards on the Cabu River bridge. Pajota’s scouts also cut the telephone lines to the camp. Eduardo Joson’s men were in a position a mile from Pajota, “straight down the highway toward Cabanatuan City” (323).
As C Company was moving toward the front of the camp, Lieutenant John Murphy’s 30 Rangers from F Company crossed under the highway toward the back of the camp and used the ravine to conceal them. At one point, F Company had a close call, thinking that one Japanese sentinel noticed them. For them, the Black Widow “was streaking impressively over the camp, and it proved to be a lifesaver for […] just as it had been for Prince and his C Company” (326). At 7:30pm, the F Company vanguard crawled out of the ravine and moved toward the camp perimeter in the dark as the sun completely set. There were up to 100 Japanese troops in the rear relaxing at the end of the day.
Book 2, Chapter 11 Summary
In late January 1945, the Cabanatuan camp grew with additional soldiers as “a Japanese way station” and a “matériel depot” (332). Up to 8,000 Japanese soldiers stayed in Cabanatuan City itself. Camp sanitation became problematic, attracting swarms of blowflies. The camp initiated a campaign targeting these insects. The American camp leaders also decided to conceal their “relative prosperity,” comprised of the food they obtained earlier (333).
The camp prisoners frequently saw the US pilots and exchanged waves (335). The pilots focused on capturing the surveillance photographs of the camp. As a result, the Japanese prohibited the POWs from watching the planes and “signaling of any type,” threatening “severe punishment” (337). On one occasion, the Japanese searched the camp, presumably for Filipino guerillas, as the soldiers were “alternatively wrathful and defeatist, arrogant and self-destructive” (339).
Bob Body and two other prisoners started making plans for a prison break on the night of January 29. However, significant troop movement prevented them from doing so. On January 30, the prisoners noticed a “black, futuristic” airplane over their heads as well as a “suspicious movement in the grass” outside the fence (342). Bob Body was preparing to escape around 9:00pm. Suddenly, they heard gunfire coming from the back of the camp and took cover. The prisoners then heard grenades, as Edward Thomas “rolled into a drainage ditch” (345).
Book 2, Chapters 10-11 Analysis
In Chapters 10 and 11, the author focuses less on analyzing the emotions of the chief participants, or the previously-discussed overarching themes, and more on simply narrating the historical events. He chooses this approach here because the rising action is heading toward the climax—the rescue—and the resolution. For example, Sides recounts the events just before the raid in almost minute-by-minute detail. Treating the subject in this manner not only builds up the suspense and documents the historical event but also resembles a film—indeed, Ghost Soldiers was one of the sources for The Great Raid (2005).
Structurally, the author’s parallel narratives are also about to collide. For this reason, Sides provides the reader with several hints about this collision. For example, he discusses the use of the then-newly released P-61 military airplane—nicknamed the “Black Widow” because of its arachnid appearance—as a decoy for the raid. The Black Widow not only distracted the Japanese soldiers in Cabanatuan as intended, but also provided the Rangers with extra time. Immediately afterward, the reader learns about the way the POWs perceived the Black Widow.
Also, like a film, this section ends on a cliffhanger. Previously, the reader learned of Mucci’s and Prince’s raid plan, which was to begin at approximately 7:30pm on January 30, 1945, with Company F starting the raid from the rear. The rescuer chapter ends with the two Companies in position at the rear and the front of the camp and the guerillas in position on the highway. The POW chapter ends with the start of the raid, as the prisoners heard gunfire from the back of the camp. Thus, the author makes it clear that the raid has now begun.
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