Rather than wait for the slow death that was the Corregidor prison compound fate, Lt. Whitcomb and Bill Harris escaped, made the five hour swim to Bataan, spent five days in the mountains behind enemy lines and in attempting to sail a small craft to Australia, were recaptured. Posing as a civilian, Whitcomb was interned in prison camp and eventually repatriated with non-combatants from Shanghai. War at its worst.