The Wilmington morning star., 1945-10-18
Gen. Wainwright Tells
OfMacArthurFood Plan
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Corregidor's stock to point wher
I figured-at the start of the beat
tie for The Rock - that our II, OO'
defenders would consume it all b.
June 20, 1912. on less than hal
ratons.
1 learned shortly after getting tt
Corregidor that there were twt
supply ships in Philippine water:
loaded with food, gas and oil. The
food ship was at Cebu City anc
the fuel ships at Iloilo, on Panay
I contacted my officers at those
islands and asked them to find In
ter-island shippers willing to run
the gauntlet up to Corregidor. Ihey
replied that there was no way Of
persuading skipper to do this
without assurance that his ship
would be protected all the way up
and back. So asked Macarthur by
radio to send up a squadron OF
bombers to Mindanao. I planned to
use the remaining motor torpedo
boats to assist, and with them and
the bombers, attempt to get our
supplies up to The Rock. With that
in mind I sent an air staff officer
down to Mindanao to coordinate
the plan.
DELAY OF DAYS
I still do not know the cause,
but there was nerve-Wra cking de-
Law of days and days. In final des-
peration for food, turned to Opt.
Kenneth Hoeffel, U.S.M., who told
me the Navy had two submarines
in Philippine waters. With MacAr-
thurs help l had those submarines
put in at Cebu, unload their tor
pedoes, and fill up with U. S. Army
rations. Between the two of them
they could hold IS tons of food. 1t
was less than half days rations
for Bataan, but even that would
be a God-send.
Even here there was delay; de-
lay which saw Bataan come closer
and closer to its fall.
Bataan worried me greatly. I had
placed Maj. Gen. Edward P. King,
Jr., in charge Of the Luzon forces.
He was the senior American Of
ficer on Bataan after I made my
move. I gave him my old head
quarters just north of Mariveles,
and presented him with my trail
er. 1t was not much of a gift, nor
was his new role an enviable one.
A sword hung over his head and
ever the heads of his battered men
ga Jap sword.
Compared to Bataan, it was
peaceful on Corregidor the day l
was reported. or a change, there
not a shot being fired. / had not
been able to rest much for three
months, and I said to myself,
Here's where I get some sleep"
But there was not much chance.
The scope of the new job took up
additional hours of paper work. My
first communicate told of surprise
raid made by a handful of Ameri-
can and Filipino troops near Fam
boanga, on Mindanao, and later
that same day there began a peri
cd of almost unbearable artillery
fire against Corregidor.
The Japs had moved few long
range, los nm. guns into Cavite,
our old naval base six miles away
on the south shore of Manila Bay.
These guns were now augmented
with many more, and Forts Drum,
Frank and Hughes began to suffer
Increasingly with us. We shot back
with what we had, adding to the
din. But we had no observation, as
had they, with their internal planes
always overhead.
On March q our patrols on Ba-
tam ran into furious opposition, in
dicating the closer approach to our
lines of heavier Jap forces. More
Jap warships joined the craft al
ready in Philippine waters, max
ing the proposed blockade-running
of the two supply ships less posi-
BILE by the hour.
l sent word of all these events,
and the harsher events to come, to
Macarthur in Australia. I took
early opportunity, in the name OF
all the men and women fighting in
the Philippines, to congratulate
him on his safe arrival and on his
assumption of Supreme Command
in the South Pacific. I told him
that we would continue to fight as
we fought in the past, and told him
that we had the utmost confidence
that under his leadership victory
some day would come to us.
HEAVILY BOMBED
The new intensity of the 1helling
of Corregidor from Cavite made
our little houses - Generals Moore
and Beebe had the other two
homes near mine - unfit as quar-
tiers. Besides the Smelling, we were
heavily bombed on March "a by
81 bombers of a new type. l pick
ed up the light walking stick which
Macarthur had left for me and
walked down to Malinta Tunnel, to
live there the rest OF my time or
Corregidor. Our houses were knock.
ed down shortly thereafter.
/ had only a little encoura gine
news to put in my communique
that day. A handful of our mer
on Mindanao had ambushed a Jar
motor column and destroyed i t.
But there was no sense in under.
estimating the seriousness of the
intensified Smelling and bombing Of
fho fortified islands. and on Rata,r