Douglas MacArthur's escape from the Philippines

On 11 March 1942, during World War II, General Douglas MacArthur and members of his family and staff left the Philippine island of Corregidor, where his forces were surrounded by the Japanese.From there, MacArthur and his party flew to Australia in a pair of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, ultimately arriving in Melbourne by train on 21 March.MacArthur was a well-known and experienced officer with a distinguished record in World War I, who had retired from the United States Army in 1937 and had become a defense advisor to the Philippine government.By March 1942, the Japanese invasion of the Philippines had compelled MacArthur to withdraw his forces on Luzon to Bataan, while his headquarters and his family moved to Corregidor.A submarine was made available, but MacArthur elected to break through the Japanese blockade in PT boats under the command of Lieutenant (junior grade) John D. Bulkeley.[3] The Philippine Army, almost entirely manned and officered by Filipinos with only a small number of American advisors, was raised by conscription, with two classes of 20,000 men being trained each year, starting in 1937.[8] In August 1941, the U.S. Navy created Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, under the command of Lieutenant (junior grade) John D. Bulkeley.[11] Soon after the Japanese invasion of the Philippines had started in December 1941, MacArthur, in accordance with the pre-war plan, declared Manila an open city, and ordered his forces on Luzon to withdraw to Bataan.[12] Although the dependants of U.S. military personnel had been sent back to the United States, MacArthur was, until his recall from retirement, a Philippine government employee, so his family had remained in the country.The brave but doomed defense of Bataan had captured the imagination of the American public,[22] who saw MacArthur as the only Allied general who knew how to fight the Japanese.[21] Brigadier General Dwight Eisenhower wrote in his diary: I cannot help thinking that we are disturbed by editorials and reacting to "public opinion" rather than to military logic."[33] Of the decision to depart by PT boat rather than wait for the submarine, Lieutenant Robert B. Kelly, executive officer of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, and commander of PT-34, [34] later recalled: Having served with Lieutenant Bulkeley as his second in command on this and a prior assignment, I was privy to much of what transpired during his conferences with General MacArthur during the decision making process.MacArthur's decision to use the PT boats for the evacuation of his party dramatically emphasized to the American public the overwhelming odds against which the United States was fighting in the Philippines.And since he had a tendency towards claustrophobia and did not relish making the trip on a submerged submarine with a commander whom he did not personally know, it provided an acceptable alternative which he elected to exercise.[33] "Few people outside the Orient", he wrote, "know how completely a member of the family an amah can become, and Ah Cheu [sic][note 1] had been with us since Arthur's birth.[44] While his family boarded, MacArthur spoke to Major General George F. Moore, the commander of the Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays."[58]By dawn, the winds and swells had subsided, but the delay caused by the bad weather had slowed the two boats, and they now had to travel across the Mindanao Sea in daylight.A subsequent message from MacArthur requested his "most experienced pilots, and the best available planes in top condition",[64] but the only long-range aircraft that Brett had were Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 19th Bombardment Group which had seen hard service in the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies campaigns.[64] He therefore approached Vice Admiral Herbert F. Leary, the commander of naval forces in the Anzac Area, to ask for a loan of some of twelve newly arrived Navy B-17s.The pilot flew on, and nearly made it to Del Monte Field, but just a few miles from his destination, the fuel tanks ran dry and the engines stopped; the B-17 crash landed in the sea.[70] Brett's chief of staff, Brigadier General Ralph Royce, was on hand to greet them; he had sent two Australian National Airways DC-3s to take them to Melbourne.Morhouse told MacArthur that since Arthur, who had suffered badly from seasickness and airsickness, was on an intravenous feed, he could not guarantee that the boy would survive the 800 miles (1,300 km) trip along an unsealed desert road to Alice Springs.The reporters' expectations of a briefing were unmet: he simply said that his policy during operations was to limit himself completely to the briefest publicity and to confine such statements to general releases from his headquarters.He followed briefly with the reason he was in Australia and concluded with a catchphrase that both alluded to his perilous journey and embodied his single-minded focus on liberating the Philippines that became widely publicized during the next three years: "I came through and I shall return".This was partly due to the efforts of the U.S. Office of War Information (OWI): soon, American submarines provided Filipino guerrillas with cartons of buttons, chewing gum, playing cards and matchboxes bearing the message, and they were widely circulated.[76] The new train for the 150 miles (240 km) journey to Adelaide through a cooler, grassy region of South Australia was more commodious and, as a special movement, much faster.Comfort was incomparably better, since the South Australian Railways Commissioner had included his personal carriage, normally used for inspections, in the train hurriedly prepared for the party.[74] At 9 am on 21 March, MacArthur's journey ended when his train arrived at Melbourne's Spencer Street station, where he was greeted by the Australian Minister for the Army, Frank Forde.[78] Roosevelt issued a public statement on 17 March: I know that every man and woman in the United States admires with me General MacArthur's determination to fight to the finish with his men in the Philippines.[90] The flag flown on the PT boat that MacArthur escaped Corregidor on resides in the library of his high school alma mater, TMI Episcopal (formerly known as the Texas Military Institute).
a powerboat speeds across the water, riding high so the hull is exposed. "PT 32" is painted on the hull in large white letters.
PT-32 , one of the four PT-20 class motor torpedo boats involved in the first part of the journey
A painting of General MacArthur in his peaked cap, staring into the rising sun.
MacArthur, as the focus of U.S. war propaganda, became a symbol of Allied resistance to the Japanese
The Chief of Staff of the United States Army, George C. Marshall (left) confers with the Secretary of War , Henry L. Stimson , in January 1942
Map including part of the Philippines and the whole of Australia showing the route taken by MacArthur and his party by PT boat, aircraft and trains
Route of the escape
Key locations in the PT boat phase of the escape from the Philippines
Three windswept men at the controls of a boat. One wears a white peaked cap and holds the wheel.
Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley (left) at the helm of a PT boat
Three olive green four-engined propeller aircraft fly over the ocean.
Boeing B-17E Flying Fortresses; two of them flew MacArthur and his party from Mindanao to Australia's north coast
MacArthur evacuation memorial at the site of the Del Monte Field, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon , Philippines, bearing the inscription In alis vincimus (On wings we conquer)
Twelve years later, at the very end of the steam era on the Central Australia Railway , a diminutive narrow-gauge train very similar to the one that conveyed the MacArthurs is ready to leave Port Augusta for Alice Springs
General and Mrs MacArthur at Adelaide railway station, 20 March 1942
PT-20 class motor torpedo boatsWorld War IIDouglas MacArthurCorregidorPT boatsMindanaoBoeing B-17 Flying FortressesMelbourneWorld War IUnited States ArmyPhilippine governmentPacific WarEmpire of JapanUnited States Army Forces in the Far EastJapanese invasion of the PhilippinesBataanFranklin D. RooseveltLieutenant (junior grade)John D. BulkeleySouthwest Pacific AreaLieutenant GeneralArthur MacArthur Jr.Medal of HonorAmerican Civil WarUnited States Military Academyaide-de-campTheodore Roosevelt42nd (Rainbow) DivisionWestern FrontSuperintendent of the United States Military AcademyChief of Staff of the United States Armyfield marshalPhilippine ArmyPhilippine ScoutsNavy DepartmentPhilippine NavyPresidentManuel L. QuezonMotor Torpedo Boat Squadron ThreeBoeing B-17 Flying Fortressopen cityhigh commissionerCorregidor IslandJean MacArthurArthur MacArthur IVUnited States Asiatic FleetRear AdmiralFrancis W. Rockwellsubmarine tenderUSS CanopusPigeongunboatsminesweepersTanagertugboatsU.S. Naval Base Subic Bayfloating dry dockUSS DeweySS CorregidorManila BayWashington, D.C.George C. MarshallWalter R. BornemanSecretary of WarHenry L. StimsonSecretary of StateCordell HullBrigadier GeneralDwight Eisenhower"Pa" Watsonfall of SingaporeAmerican-British-Dutch-Australian Command[Major] General[Richard K.] SutherlandWar DepartmentCurtiss P-40 WarhawksDistinguished Service CrossUSS PermitSubic BayJonathan M. WainwrightLieutenantRobert B. Kellyclaustrophobiagaskets55-gallon drumsHerbert J. RayUnited States Army Air CorpsHarold H. GeorgeUnited States Army Air ForcesCantoneseOrientstenographerMaster Sergeantprivateduffel bagsfour-star rankManila HotelHotel New GrandYokohamaEnsignSpencer B. AkinHugh J. CaseyWilliam F. MarquatIliff D. RichardsonRichard J. MarshallAnthony B. AkersCharles A. WilloughbyLeGrande A. DillerRichard K. SutherlandGeorge F. MooreHarbor Defenses of Manila and Subic BaysbirdshotCagayan de OroMindanao SeaWilliam MorseWilliam F. SharpSilver StarcodebreakersGeorge H. Brettradiogram19th Bombardment GroupDutch East Indies campaignsVice AdmiralHerbert F. LearyAnzac AreaDel Monte FieldHarl PeasesuperchargerManolo Fortich, Bukidnon40th Reconnaissance SquadronDarwinBatchelor AirfieldRalph RoyceAustralian National AirwaysAlice SpringsCentral Australia RailwayPort AugustaAdelaidecrossing loopsTerowieSouth AustraliaAdelaide railway stationThe OverlandSpencer Street stationFrank FordeJoseph GoebbelsBenito MussoliniU.S. FleetAdmiralErnest KingOval Officereturned to the PhilippinesTMI EpiscopalThe AdvertiserBlair, ClayBorneman, Walter R.Brett, George H.The Courier-MailThe New York TimesManchester, WilliamUnited States Army Center of Military HistoryWilloughby, Charles AndrewService summaryWake Island ConferenceReliefLouise Cromwell BrooksIsabel Rosario CooperArthur MacArthur Sr.Arthur MacArthur IIIDouglas MacArthur IIMacArthur MemorialMacArthur Landing Memorial National ParkMacArthur ParkAppointment in TokyoMacArthurAmerican CaesarInchonEmperorOperation ChromiteNamesakes