Douglas MacArthur

:For the municipality in the Philippines, see General MacArthur, Eastern Samar.

World War II

After the United States entered World War II, MacArthur became Allied commander in the Philippines. He courted controversy on several occasions, especially when he overruled his air commander, General Lewis H. Brereton, who had requested permission to launch air attacks against Japanese bases on nearby Taiwan. Consequently much of the US Far East Air Force was destroyed on the ground in the Philippines, the prelude to a Japanese invasion. His headquarters during the period of defeat in the Philippines was in the island fortress of Corregidor, while his making only one trip to the front lines in Bataan led to the disparaging moniker and ditty, "Dugout Doug." In March 1942, as Japanese forces tightened their grip on the Philippines, MacArthur was ordered by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to relocate to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. With a select group of advisers and subordinate military commanders, MacArthur fled the Phillipines, arriving at Batchelor Airfield in Australia's Northern Territory on the 17th March and taking The Ghan railway through the Australian outback to Adelaide, South Australia. His famous speech, in which he said "I came out of Bataan and I shall return", was made at Terowie, South Australia on March 20. During this period President Manuel L. Quezon decorated him with the Philippine Distinguished Conduct Star.

Related Topics:
World War II - Lewis H. Brereton - Japan - Taiwan - Far East Air Force - Japanese invasion - Corregidor - Bataan - Franklin D. Roosevelt - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - Northern Territory - 17th March - The Ghan - Railway - Adelaide, South Australia - Terowie - South Australia - March 20 - Manuel L. Quezon - Distinguished Conduct Star

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MacArthur became Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) and took command of Australian, US, Dutch and other Allied forces defending Australia, fighting mainly in and around New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies. On 20th July 1942 SWPA headquarters was moved to what is now the MacArthur Central building in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, where he stayed from 1942 to 1944. Australian and American forces under MacArthur's command eventually achieved success, overrunning Japanese resistance in 1943 and 1944.

Related Topics:
Southwest Pacific Area - Australia - Dutch - New Guinea - Dutch East Indies - 20th July - 1942 - MacArthur Central - Brisbane, Queensland, Australia - 1944 - Japan - 1943

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MacArthur's handling of the Australian forces under his command during this time has been the subject of much criticism, both by his contemporaries and subsequent historians. During 1942, MacArthur controlled more Australian than US forces. However, it has been claimed that he decreed that all Australian victories would be reported as "Allied victories", while American victories would be reported as American. It is also a widely-held view that, from mid-1943 onwards, MacArthur confined the Australian Army divisions under his command to tough and largely irrelevant actions, while reserving the more prestigious actions for his own nation's troops. As a result, there is an enduring antipathy towards MacArthur in Australia, especially concerning his attitude towards the Kokoda Track Campaign which he thought irrelevant.

Related Topics:
Australian Army - Kokoda Track Campaign

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American forces under MacArthur's command took back the Philippines in October 1944, fulfilling MacArthur's vow to return to the Philippines and consolidating their hold on the archipelago after heavy fighting. In September 1945 MacArthur received the formal Japanese surrender which ended World War II.

Related Topics:
Took back the Philippines - 1944 - 1945 - Formal Japanese surrender

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He was awarded and received the Medal of Honor for his leadership in the Southwest Pacific Theater. Philippine President Sergio Osmeña also decorated him with the Philippines' highest military award, the Medal of Valor.

Related Topics:
Medal of Honor - Sergio Osmeña - Medal of Valor

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