General Douglas MacArthur Returns Leyte, Philippine

General Douglas MacArthur wades ashore during initial landings at Leyte, Philippine Islands, 10/1944, ARC Identifier 531424 / Local Identifier 111-SC-407101, Item from Record Group 111: Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, 1860 - 1982

High Resolution Image‎ (1,600 × 1,199 pixels, file size: 542 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

Creator(s): Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Chief Signal Officer. (09/18/1947 - 02/28/1964) Type(s) of Archival Materials: Photographs and other Graphic Materials Contact(s):

Still Picture Records Section, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001. PHONE: 301-837-3530; FAX: 301-837-3621; EMAIL: stillpixorder@nara.gov.

Production Date(s): 10/1944. Part Of: Series: Signal Corps Photographs of American Military Activity, compiled 1754 - 1954.

Access Restriction(s): Unrestricted, Use Restriction(s): Unrestricted.

This image is a work of a U.S. Army soldier or employee, taken or made during the course of the person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.

General Note(s): Use War and Conflict Number 1207 when ordering a reproduction or requesting information about this image. Variant Control Number(s): NAIL Control Number: NWDNS-111-SC-407101.

The Philippines Campaign, In March 1942, under presidential order, General MacArthur escaped from the besieged Philippines to Australia, where he vowed, “I shall return.” Two months later U.S. conventional resistance ended in surrender.

But some Filipinos and Americans disobeyed orders, fled into the jungle, and, aided by friendly natives, formed guerrilla bands. From Australia, the Allies sent in supplies and agents by submarine. Thus, when MacArthur returned to the Philippines in late 1944 he found a movement able to help with intelligence, elimination of bypassed units, and even conventional attacks. In northern Luzon, guerrilla patches bore their motto, “We Remained.”

The main assault at Leyte took place on October 20, 1944, as four Army divisions landed abreast in the largest amphibious operation yet conducted in the Pacific. Vice Adm. Thomas C. Kinkaid, MacArthur’s naval subordinate, controlled the amphibious phases, including naval gunfire support and close air support by planes based on escort carriers.

Ground forces were under Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger, commanding the U.S. Sixth Army; land-based air forces of the Southwest Pacific Area in general support were commanded by Lt. Gen. George C. Kenney. Mac-Arthur himself exercised unified command over the air, ground, and naval commanders. The fast carrier task forces of the Pacific Fleet, providing strategic support, operated under the control of Admiral Halsey, who reported to Nimitz, not MacArthur.

There was no provision for unified naval command, and Halsey’s orders were such that he could make his principal mission the destruction of the Japanese Fleet rather than the support of MacArthur’s entry into the Philippines. WORLD WAR II THE WAR AGAINST JAPAN

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