MACARTHUR
General Douglas MacArthur was one of the Second World War's most flamboyant and controversial figures. He was a military commander who had a keen idea of the value of keeping the public informed, and a past-master at image projecting. He made sure that the photographers were there to take his picture at key moments, such as his return to the Philippines in 1944.
MacArthur graduated top of the class of 1903 at West Point Military Academy and served in the Philippines, Panama and Mexico, before being posted to World War One in 1917, twice being wounded and much decorated. He was promoted to major general in 1925 and became Army Chief of Staff by 1930. In this post, he clashed bitterly with political leaders over cuts in US defence budgets.
MacArthur was constantly in conflict with President Roosevelt since he had taken office in 1933; the politics and personalities of the two men were in total contrast. MacArthur was a thoroughgoing conservative whom some Republicans on the home front regarded as a candidate for the presidency after he retired from the army to take a military post in the Philippines. MacArthur was also in conflict with the new Army Chief of Staff George Marshall and the Army establishment on a number of issues, including the 'Germany first' policy against which MacArthur repeatedly protested. Nevertheless, the Army was glad to have a strong and popular figure like MacArthur to uphold its role in the Pacific and oppose the ambitions of the Navy.
He had been recalled to duty when, in December 1941 Japan attacked the Philippines. MacArthur commanded both the embryonic Filipino Army and US Army Forces. The Japanese quickly overwhelmed the defenders and soon held the three air bases in northern Luzon and on 22nd December gained control of Manila. A further series of Japanese assaults forced the US defensive lines back and MacArthur ordered a general retreat to the Bataan peninsula. On 22nd February, 1942, MacArthur was ordered to leave Bataan and proceed to Australia. General Jonathan Wainright remained behind with 11 000 troops and managed to hold out until the beginning of May.
When MacArthur arrived in Australia on 17th March, he found his new command short of manpower, poorly equipped and quite deficient in air power. He also found Australian morale shattered due to the Allied debacle in Asia, particularly by the fall of Singapore, which had been regarded by Australians as the keystone of their security; hence his first task was to infuse the Australians with an offensive spirit and confidence.
MacArthur transformed Australia's morale. He told parliament in Canberra a week after his arrival; “We shall win or we shall die, and to this end, I pledge you the full resources of my country. My faith in our ultimate victory is invincible, and I bring to you tonight the unbreakable spirit of our just cause. The President of the United States ordered me to break through the Japanese lines for the purpose of organizing the Allied offensive against Japan, a primary object of which is the recovery of the Philippines. I came through and I shall return”. By the time he had finished speaking, the audience were on their feet cheering. American reinforcements arrived, and together with Australian troops were sent into the areas of undefended Australia. On Anzac Day (25th April), MacArthur issued orders that wherever the Japanese landed, they were to be resisted and thrown back into the sea.
The Japanese High Command, meanwhile, had indeed been considering an invasion of Australia. The navy, in particular, was keen, but the army protested. To them, the war in China was all-important, and the generals refused to provide enough men to invade Australia. On 4th March, the High Command reached a compromise: they would capture Port Moresby and push south-east in order to cut Australia's shipping routes across the Pacific to the USA. Then they might consider an invasion of Australia itself. On 31st March, they began their drive but, without knowing it, the Japanese had almost reached the limit of their spectacular expansion. The tide of war was about to turn. Attempts to capture Port Moresby would lead to their first major defeats - in the Coral Sea, then on New Guinea's Kokoda Trail.
At the beginning of American participation in the war, Roosevelt and Churchill had agreed that the Pacific area, including Australia, should be under American command, with the Middle East and India remaining under British control. Europe and the Atlantic would come under joint Anglo-American direction. The command in the Pacific was further divided between MacArthur's Southwest Pacific Command and the Central Pacific Command of Admiral Chester Nimitz. Each was in control of the land, sea and air forces in