MacArthur was a well-known and experienced officer with a distinguished record in World War I. He retired from the United States Army in 1937 and became a field marshal in the Philippine Army. When MacArthur was recalled from retirement in July 1941, he united the Philippine and U.S. Armies under one command. By March 1942, the Japanese invasion of the Philippines had compelled MacArthur to withdraw his forces on Luzon to Bataan. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to go to Australia.
About Douglas MacArthur’s escape from the Philippines in brief
MacArthur was a well-known and experienced officer with a distinguished record in World War I. He retired from the United States Army in 1937 and became a field marshal in the Philippine Army. When MacArthur was recalled from retirement in July 1941, he united the Philippine and U.S. Armies under one command. By March 1942, the Japanese invasion of the Philippines had compelled MacArthur to withdraw his forces on Luzon to Bataan. Fearing that Corregidor would soon fall, and MacArthur would be taken prisoner, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to go to Australia. 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. In Australia, he made his famous speech in which he declared, “I came through and I shall return”, MacArthur was the son of Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur Jr, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his services in the American Civil War. He was an aide-de-camp to his father from 1905 to 1906, and to President Theodore Roosevelt from 1906 to 1907. MacArthur’s job was to advise the Philippine government on defense matters, and prepare the Philippine defense forces when the Philippines became fully independent, which was to be in 1946. The staff MacArthur brought with him became known as the “Bataan Gang”. They would become the nucleus of his General Headquarters Southwest Pacific Area. In August 1941, the U. S. Navy created Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, under the command of Lieutenant John D.
Bulkeley. It was a half-strength squadron with only six PT boats, numbered 31 to 35 and 41 at Manila in September 1941. In September 1941, more PT boats arrived in Manila in a fleet consisting of more than a dozen. The Philippines became a successful defense force in the early 1940s, but it was not until July 1941 that the first American troops arrived in the Philippines to help repel a Japanese invasion. In the 1920s it was estimated that the best that could be hoped for was that the garrison could hold out until help arrived. By the 1930s, planners had become decidedly pessimistic in view of the increased capability of aircraft, and agreed that the Philippines should be written off in 1936. But this was abruptly reversed in July 1936, when the decision was made that they could do so so for about 60 days. 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. In addition, there was a regular U. s. Army garrison of about 10,000, half of whom were Filipinos serving in the US Army known as Philippine Scouts. In July 1941 the Philippine Navy acquired three, known as ‘Q’ boats, after President Manuel L. Quezon. The nascent Philippine Navy bought three “Q” boats, which were armed with torpedoes.
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