General Mac Arthur

The first, is of the great General of the Army, Douglas MacArthur reviewing the troops on the Atherton Tablelands, which is only half an hours drive from here. My parents come from this area of Queensland, as do I.

The second, is of an autographed photo sent to me by Colonel Edward T. Imparato USAAF. Colonel Imparato was the first pilot to land at Atsugi Airfield near Tokyo on 28 August 1945. This photo was taken shortly after he was found lost in the highlands of New Guinea in 1944. Colonel Imparato flew ahead to prepare for MacArthur's arrival in Japan. Colonel Imparato died two years back, in his early 80's. He was a brave man. The third photo is of a well known Cairns landmark, Hides Hotel. I have reproduced the image in black and white, as the quality of the photo is not the best in colour. General MacArthur used to stay on the top corner suite, which today is called "The MacArthur Suite". General MacArthur used to stay here during his visits from his War Office in Brisbane.

Dear Pat,

Many thanks for your welcome email! Before I write anymore, I have not forgotten the copy of the interview on Australian Radio with the American survivor of CV2 U.S.S. Lexington. I spoke to David Anderson of the ABC and he had erased the cd of the interview. However I have it on tape and am trying to work out a way to put on cd for you. Failing that I will do a cd dub and send to you.

Also, could you please email me your web address again please. I am honoured that you put my information I sent you on it. Please feel free to use anything I send you. It is an honour if I can do anything like this to assist you, even in general information.

I thought I would send you a few other pictures, not to do with Lady Lex, but more of Australia during the war, and a letter from the U.S. Ambassador here I got two years back. The first picture is of my Dad when he was in the Army in Brisbane. The second

is of a very historic House named "The House on the Hill" here in Cairns. It burnt down about ten years ago. This was the headquarters of Z Forces, who sailed on the ship "The Krait" and sunk Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour during the war. General MacArthur also used to work out of here apparently at times while in North Queensland, or on his way to New Guinea. The building eventually become a fine restaurant, then a night club of which I frequented many times. I remember going to this historic building as a

child, as my friend's father was the manager of the restaurant at the time (during the 1960s). I will also attach a sketch I did from historical photos as the building looked during the war years when it was used by Z Forces.

The next is a letter I received from US Ambassador Schieffer after I

wrote to him expressing sorrow for the terrible attack on America in September 2001. I thought you might like to read it. Lastly, Cairns has many, many relics of the second world war still surviving today. There were almost 40,000 US troops here and in the immediate area during the war. Here is a picture taken near a place named

Ravenshoe, west of Cairns, where many, many troops lived. The remains of their fireplaces still stand. Hope you find this of interest. I have many more pictures I will send in due course if you are interested.

I will also try and get a better colour picture of Hides Hotel to send to you. By the way, I have an appointment to inspect the Penthouse where MacArthur and his family used to stay, so I am looking forward to this!

Hope all is well with you and your family Pat. I shall write to you again soon. Greetings from warm Cairns.

With best regards from down under.

Kevin.

Kevin E. Hyde.
email: amagraze@goldlink.aunz.com

Douglas MacArthur was America’s senior military commander in the Far East during World War Two. MacArthur found fame as the officer who led America’s withdrawal from the Philippines with the quote "I shall return". It was a promise that Douglas MacArthur was to fulfill.

Douglas MacArthur was born in 1880 in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was educated at West Point Military Academy and gained a commission into the engineers in 1903. In 1905, MacArthur was sent to work in Tokyo where his father was America’s official observer of Japan’s military operations against Russia.

When America joined World War One in 1917, Douglas MacArthur was sent to France where he distinguished himself at the second battle of the Marne. When the war ended in November 1918, MacArthur was the youngest divisional commander in the field.

From 1930 to 1935, he was Chief of Staff of the American Army.

In World War Two, after the attack on Pearl Harbour, Douglas MacArthur was put in charge of the Philippines where he had to defend the islands against an attack by the Japanese. In this he failed, but few western commanders had been successful against the Japanese at the start of the Pacific War – as the British had found at Singapore.

The withdrawal of American forces from the Philippines was a huge blow to America’s military but it only made Douglas MacArthur more determined to take back the islands. By 1943, America was in a position to attack the Japanese. However, rather than take every single island in the area, Douglas MacArthur decided on what became known as ‘island-hopping’. This tactic meant that the Americans took the larger more important islands captured by the Japanese in the Pacific (such as Iwo Jima and Okinawa) and left the smaller ones to "wither on the vine" (Douglas MacArthur). Regardless of this, America’s casualties were still high and any attack on mainland Japan itself was fraught with dangers. American intelligence estimated that 1 million American soldiers would be killed or wounded if America attempted to take Japan itself. As a result of this, President Truman ordered the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Douglas MacArthur had a detailed knowledge of Japan and Japanese culture. As Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the Pacific, MacArthur became the head of the occupation forces in Japan from

their surrender in August 1945 to 1951. One of the first things he did was for the emperor, Hirohito, to announce on radio to the people of Japan, that he was not a god and just a mortal. He also used his influence to ensure that the emperor was not put on trial for war crimes as he feared that it might provoke a massive negative reaction amongst all those people who were still in Japan. Only those in the government or the military, such as Tojo, faced a public trial.

Douglas MacArthur did a great deal to rebuild a nation severely damaged by the war. Japan was given a democratic constitution and internal reforms – dominated by MacArthur himself – moved Japan forward as a nation. Ironically, there was more resentment in Washington DC for what Douglas MacArthur was doing, than there was in Japan. Some American politicians disliked the power MacArthur had accrued.

After his involvement in World War Two, Douglas MacArthur remained in the limelight as head of the United Nations force that took on the North Koreans in the Korean War. In this position, MacArthur showed both his genius (with the amphibious landing at Inchon) and his belief that as commander of the forces in the region he was the senior decision maker. In fact, Douglas MacArthur had been told by President Truman not to risk a war with Communist China by advancing to the Yalu River, in the north of North Korea and on the Chinese border. Douglas MacArthur ignored this and advanced north. This provoked a huge Chinese invasion of the Korean peninsula. Douglas MacArthur was relived of all his commands by Truman in April 1951.

MacArthur returned to America as a hero but any hopes of a career in politics after his military one came to nothing and from 1952 until his death in 1964, aged 84, Douglas MacArthur lived out his retirement in Manhatten.