Have you heard about the Baatan Death March? This event eventually went down in history as one of the most terrible war crimes - and it happened during World War II. The march took place in 1942, at the beginning of the Pacific War, and resulted in the deaths of an estimated 18, 000 prisoners. A true human tragedy.

Dramatic march

According to Gabby Duran of All That Is Interesting, everything happened in the highly disputed territory of the Philippines - as its proximity to Japan made it extremely strategic, not to mention that at the time it was part of the territory. North American. No wonder, therefore, that countless bloody battles were fought there.

Japanese and US generals negotiating surrender of the Philippines in 1942 (Corbis / Getty Image)

For the Battle of Baatan was one of them and ended after a three-month period of violent conflict - which accounted for about 10, 000 deaths between Americans and Filipinos - with the victory of the Japanese and the largest surrender recorded in US history., with nearly 80, 000 Allied soldiers surrendering their weapons to enemies. This number, however, far exceeded what the Japanese predicted, and in the absence of vehicles to transport everyone to the prison camps, Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma ordered them to march.

The soldiers were forced to walk between the cities of Mariveles and San Fernando and then from the Cepas train station to O'Donnell Field, a total of about 112 kilometers. It is noteworthy that we are talking about the “losers” of a long and bloody conflict, so the men were exhausted, hungry, thirsty and there were many injured and sick in the group. Thus, at least on the Americans side specifically, only 27, 000 were listed as effective, and of those, a third had contracted malaria.

Prisoners with hands tied behind their backs (Department of Defense / Wikimedia Commons)

And these soldiers were all forced to walk and walk in scorching heat and receiving little food or water. Many were forced into the harsh sun, and those who could not keep pace or asked for a sip of water were often whipped, stabbed, or shot - when not hit by passing war trucks.

Already among the healthiest, it was not long before men began to fall dead along the way, and of the less than 20, 000 who survived the death march and made it to the prison camp, many succumbed to disease, exhaustion, and the worst. site conditions. The images you have seen above and you can check out below tell a little of this tragic story.

1 - Soldiers improvising stretchers to transport the injured or those who could no longer walk

(Wikimedia Commons)

2 - Prisoners were forced to see the bodies of their dead comrades

(The National Museum of the US Air Force)

3 - This prisoner was reportedly burned alive and buried in this grave.

(US Army Signal Corps / Wikimedia Commons)

4 - Soldiers carrying dead comrades

(The National Museum of the US Air Force)

5 - A rare moment of rest while walking

(Bettmann / Getty Images)

6 - US and Filipino prisoners during the march

(Bettmann / Getty Images)

7 - Japanese Soldiers Guarding Their Prisoners

(Department of Defense / Wikimedia Commons)

8 - Injured US officials awaiting transfer to base hospital

(Corbis / Getty Images)

9 - Death March Survivors

(The LIFE Picture Collection / Getty Images)

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