Evening star., 1951-04-17

: first order came on FEBRUARY a
,land the general frightened Wash
,Eington-people feared that. sde
spite orders. he might refuse t
lgo--by asking for delay. Thi
was granted, and he did not. arriv
lin Australia til March 17.aea.
It can still, in fact. : be argue,
that he left Bataanl against hi
->---~-r-I---~~s----
This is the ninth in D series ,from; Joh
+ Gunther's new Book, THE Riddle Q
+ MocAFthur.'s .t~ .f1f1tt11s *
sE~-a--.--l 49,
will. He did finally accept Wash
Iington's instructions for twosrea
isons: QD He was obeying an ex'
Iplicit presidential ofderr 12e CON
isiderations of revenge. s He knew
that. if he arrived in Australia
safely. he could devote the res
of his life to fierce. persistent war
fare against the Japanese. Hence
the message that reverberatec
around the world when he reached
Australian sou, II came thiungf
and I will return!"
J. One close member of his stat
told me that the hardest decision
of his life was to choose the hand,
full who accompanied him.. Incl
dentally, the adventure is nevel
described as an escape" in Mae
Arthur circles, but as ''the sue.
/ cessful execution of an order ol
even as merely "a transfer O.
headquarters" A considerable,
mass of official documents ane
secret papers had to be hrougn
out and this cut down the numhel
of people who could be carried
Also some Junior officers whit
worked secretly on codes had IL
be taken. 90 1~- =
IL Associates Taken.
-Four PIT boats were ayailabl,
to the party on the first lap Ii
Mindoro and then, two-just twe
Bills for the 11-hour flight te
Darwin. Gen. Macarthur took his
wife, his son, their Chinese anaaf
(that his family always accom-
panied him aroused. in its day
much mordant comment from off,
GERS less favoredl and II associ-
ates-out of hundreds whom he
might have chosen, but whom he
had to leave behind. Among
those who went with him were
three men who, to this moment,
have scarcely ever left his side
Maj. Gen. Charles A. Willoughby
Maj. Gen. w. F. Marquat and Col
Sidnely L. Huff. Col. Huff, a
former naval officer. played a
substantial role in getting the PIT
boats assigned, to Manila in the
first place. against stiff. opposition
by naval officers more conyen-
tionally minded, who did not see
what use they could be. Part Of
the official description of the
journey. released on March "a
! 1912, follows!
This was not a. young ~anc
husky scout who was ordered tt
come through. This was a g.
year-old man, a commanding
general, a veteran of many wars
The decision Ito, proceed was
universally opposed as too des-
perate, except by +. E. the genera,
himself. The general said, we
will go with the fall of the moon;
We will go during the 1des Of
Marchr
Gen. Macarthur at once sci
up headquarters as commander
Il of the Southwest Pacific. Tc
avenge Bataan became an OBJ
session. He did not have much
to work with. But, at once he
made a characteristic decision TIC
defend Australia. however meager
his strength, by at once attacking
the japanese in New Guinea, in
stead of waiting for them to come
down. Subsequent details need
not detain us long-the bad feel
ing that developed between Gen
Macarthur and men in his COM
mand, the strategy of island hop
ping, jurisdictional quarrels' with
Washington and eventual division
of authority with Admiral Nimitz
the harsh jungle campaigns in
miserable forgotten islands, and
repeated charges that Gen. Mac
Arthur was sold short" in Aus
tralia as he had been in the
Philippines. tBut if President
Roosevelt had not ordered him out
Iof the Philippines. he would have
spent the war as a Japanese
prisoner ss scS '1srtsafsa ~
Never Lost . Landing. #
Two main points are worth
making. Gen. MacArthur took
more territory, with less loss Of
life, than any military commander
since Darius the Great-true, mos
iof the territory was water. Second
his forces made 81 different major
amphibious landings, andse were
never once pushed off any islane
or iatoll they landed on.
Members of the MacArthur en-.
tourage had, in those days as to.
day, an absolute and exclusive
fxity of mind about their owr
theater. Robert E. Sherwood went
on to Manila fafter Gen. Mac.
Arthur had retaken the Philip
pines) as an emissary Of MIR
Roosevelt. He happened to be ir
| the Manila map room when 1
report came that the Americans
in Germany had performed the
spectacular feat of crossing tht
Remagen Bridge on the Rhine
thus making our victory in Europe
certain. Mr.. Sherwood asked Gen
Willoughby. Gen. Macarthur.
chief intelligence officer, If The
Remagen news were true. Gen