Bataan Death March: What happened during Bataan Death March?

Following the Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during WWII, the Japanese rounded up the surrendered Filipinos and Americans and forced them to march 65 kilometres from Mariveles, on the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula, to San Fernando.

For three days, the Japanese deprived the detainees of food and water. As the troops’ health deteriorated, many of them began to fall behind the rest of the squad. The Japanese tortured and killed anyone who fell behind. Trucks and other army vehicles would occasionally run over weak detainees.

The prisoners were crammed into the trains so tightly that they had to stand for the remainder of the journey. Those who did not fit had to march the entire distance to the camp.

The march was six days long. No one knows exactly how many men died along the route, although estimates range from 5,000 to 10,000. Conditions did not improve much once the soldiers arrived at the camp. Thousands more died at the camp over the next few years as a result of malnutrition and disease.