Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1942-11-14
Philippine Escape
HoIdup Provides Funds to Stort
Expedition on Its PeriIous Woy

BY CAPT. WILLIAM LLOYD
OSBORNE and CAPT. DAMON
CAUSE, rs Told to LEE VAN Alta
(The ttDo escaping officers
finally meet each other face to
face. In today's installment
Capt. Damon Cause picks up the
thread OF the story.)
Lloyd Osborne was the wrost.
looking physical specimen I have
ever seen when he came staggering
out OF the Luzon jungles that day
Thin, emaciated and tired, he had
been fighting malaria for weeks
without quinine. The little supply
I had gathered from the various VII
lagos had visited while GLIDING the
Japs on Luzon couldn't have been
put to better use. We Immediately
set about planning our escape. II
was a big and discouraging task
First We needed a boat. We needed
money to buy supplies, too-sum-
Gent supplies to last us for perhaps
weeks at sea.
In the days that followed we
learned, from the natives, of a GER
tain merchant on a certain island
who had a boat for sale. Now we
needed money. It was Lloyd who
planned our master strategy to get
the necessary funds.
Through friends, both of us had
again been equipped with Army re-
volverS and We determined to put
them to good use. Borrowing a ma
tive banca one night we sailed to an
island where We knew the Japs had
lighthouse. They had appropriated
our islands and our supplies. All
right, we would take theirs! We got
the drop on the five Filipinos who
were conscripted by the Japs to
guard the lighthouse, and Lloyd
watched them while I checked over
the Japanese booty we had just cap
tured.
A Productive HoIdup.
There was considerable petroleum
and about 81 tins of kerosene. Also
we got an American flag, a Jap flag
which was later to save our lives
and a roll of Manila hemp. Now
our problem was to get it transport
ed to a point where we could sell 1t
Again our guns came in handy. BY
some well-executed gestures which
adequately explained their fate ii
cooperation was not forthcoming
we were able to assemble an armada
of five native boats and a veritable
construction gang of Filipino natives
to aid in moving the bulky stores
from lighthouse to boat. We forced
our captives to sail our boat to our
rendezvous point and then to unload
it for u.s. There wasn't time for
arguing with them either-we were
in territory very much occupied by
the Japs.
Loaded to the gunwales with our
supplies, we set out with our armada
to horse trade" our petroleum and
kerosene for a boat. It was harder
job than We had anticipated No
Filipino wanted to be directly con-
nected with the sale or purchase OF
anything by Americans. We couldn't
blame them; the Japs were entirely
too close to them for comfort.
BY peddling our gasoline and kero-
sene from village to village, however,
we were finally able to dispose of 1t.
Then, with the safety of night pro-
tecting our undercover transaction,
we purchased the all-important boat
from the worried inhabitant OF a
village that was already well under
Japanese domination. With night
still sheltering us, We put to sea,
anxious to put as many miles as pos
sible between us and our recent
Operations"
We were probably the strangest
sailors who ever set out on a Journey
which finally carried us almost 5000
miles. In the beginning, the vessel
was intended to have a crew of five,
there were two OF us. Lloyd had
never been on a boat in his life, with
the exception of the transport which
took him to the Philippines. knew
nothing about running boat either,
except that I had done some cat
boat sailing. With those qualiflca-
lions was elected commander of
all sea operations while Lloyd would
fill a similar role whenever we were
engaged in shore duties.
1t would have been a magnificent
schedule except for our unfortunate
selection Of the craft In which we
planned to escape. About % feet
long, it was motor sailer-except
that it had no sails; and its motor,
Swedish Diesel, was in a sad condi-
ton. We found out that the average
days for labor for our motor were
two out of three. It was monsoon
weather when We made plans for
our escape and the Philippines were
under the full force of a gale which
roared in from the China Sea on the
night We sailed from our Philippine
rendeZvOlls