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The escape of Douglas MacArthur from the Philippines began on 11 March 1942, during World War II, when he left Corregidor Island in a PT boat. After travelling for two days through stormy seas patrolled by Japanese warships, he reached Mindanao. From there, MacArthur and his party flew to Australia, ultimately arriving in Melbourne on 21 March. This was the occasion of his famous speech in which he declared, "I came through and I shall return." Douglas MacArthur was a well-known and experienced officer with a distinguished record in World War I, who had retired from the United States Army in 1937 and had become a defense advisor to the Philippine government. He was recalled to active duty with the United States Army in July 1941, a few months before the outbreak of the Pacific War between the United States and the Empire of Japan. By March 1942, the Japanese invasion of the Philippines had compelled MacArthur to withdraw his forces on Luzon to Bataan, while his headquarters and his family moved to Corregidor Island. The doomed defense of Bataan captured the imagination of the American public, and MacArthur became a living symbol of Allied resistance to the Japanese. Fearing that Corregidor would fall, and MacArthur would be taken prisoner, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to go to Australia. A submarine was made available, but MacArthur elected to break through the Japanese blockade in PT boats. He set out after sunset on 11 March, and after two days of being bounced about in rough seas, and nearly being spotted by a Japanese warship, he reached Cagayan on Mindanao. From there, MacArthur and his party flew to Australia from Del Monte Field in a pair of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses. The staff he brought with him, who became known as the "Bataan Gang", would become the nucleus of his General Headquarters (GHQ) Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA). == Background == Douglas MacArthur was a well-known and experienced officer. The son of Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur, Jr., who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his services in the American Civil War, MacArthur had graduated at the top of the U.S. Military Academy class of 1903. He was an aide-de-camp to his father from 1905 to 1906, and to President Theodore Roosevelt from 1906 to 1907. During World War I he commanded the 84th Brigade of the 42nd (Rainbow) Division in the fighting on the Western Front. After the war he served as Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy, and as Chief of Staff of the United States Army. He retired from the United States Army in 1937, and became a field marshal in the Philippine Army. His job was to advise the Philippine government on defense matters, and prepare the Philippine defense forces for the day when the Philippines became fully independent. When he was recalled from retirement in July 1941 to become commander of United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) at the age of 61, he united the Philippine and United States Armies under one command. MacArthur faced an enormous task in getting the Philippine Army ready for war. The Philippines had no navy at all, but, on a visit to the United States in 1937, MacArthur lobbied the Navy Department for the development of PT boats—small, fast boats armed with torpedoes—for which he believed that the geography of the Philippines, with its shallow waters and many coves, was ideally suited. The Philippine Navy acquired three, known as Q boats, after President Manuel L. Quezon. In August 1941, the U.S. Navy created Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, under the command of Lieutenant (junior grade) John D. Bulkeley. It was a half-strength squadron, with only six PT boats instead of the normal twelve, numbered 31 to 35 and 41. It arrived at Manila in September 1941. Soon after the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, MacArthur, in accordance with the pre-war plan, declared Manila an open city, and ordered his forces on Luzon to withdraw to Bataan. The Philippine government, the High Commissioner's office and MacArthur's USAFFE headquarters moved to Corregidor Island. Although the dependants of U.S. military personnel had been sent back to the United States, MacArthur was, until his recall from retirement, a Philippine government employee, so his family had remained in the Philippines. MacArthur's wife, Jean MacArthur, and young son, Arthur MacArthur IV, went with him to Corregidor. Arthur celebrated his fourth birthday on Corregidor, on 21 February 1942. When an aide asked about Arthur's possible fate, MacArthur replied: "He is a soldier's son." Most of the United States Asiatic Fleet retired to the south of the Philippines. A small force was left behind under the command of Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell consisting of the submarine tender , the submarine rescue ship , gunboats , and , minesweepers , and , five tugboats, three small patrol boats, and the PT boats of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three. The loss of Manila and the U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay meant that fuel and spare parts became scarce. The PT boats relied on ''Canopus'' and the floating dry dock for assistance with maintenance. Despite this, Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three continued to patrol. On 17 December, , and rescued 296 survivors from SS ''Corregidor'', which had been carrying refugees to Australia when it struck a mine and sank in Manila Bay. A week later, ran aground while patrolling south of Manila Bay, and was set on fire to prevent her being salvaged by the Japanese. met a similar fate a month later, after its engines failed and it drifted onto a reef. The PT boats attacked enemy barges off Luzon on the night of 23 January 1942, a small Japanese warship on 1 February, and a small vessel, probably a fishing trawler, on 17 February. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Douglas MacArthur's escape from the Philippines」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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