The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

General Douglas MacArthur

General Douglas MacArthur was a great general during World War II in the Pacific. His major campaigns were The Philippines Campaign (1941–1942), the New Guinea Campaign (1942-1945), and the Invasion of the Philippines (1944–45). Although his reputation was great with the American people during and after WWII, he was not without his controversies. My concern is not the controversies but his military generalship and leadership during WWII. In this, there is still much debate amongst military historians.

In the book The Soul of Battle: From Ancient Times to the Present Day, How Three Great Liberators Vanquished Tyranny by Victor Davis Hanson, he defines great military leadership as the ability to lead and inspire the troops under them to a noble cause for the wars they fought. Most often, this noble cause is for the freedom of oppressed persons under the enemy’s control. A great military leader also fights with the concern of their soldier’s safety and minimization of casualties while attempting to expeditiously end the war and achieve their noble cause.

Examining in riveting detail the campaigns of three brilliant generals who led largely untrained forces to victory over tyrannical enemies, Hanson shows how the moral confidence with which these generals imbued their troops may have been as significant as any military strategy they utilized. Theban general Epaminondas marched an army of farmers two hundred miles to defeat their Spartan overlords and forever change the complexion of Ancient Greece. William Tecumseh Sherman led his motley army across the South, ravaging the landscape and demoralizing the citizens in the defense of right. And George S. Patton commanded the recently formed Third Army against the German forces in the West, nearly completing the task before his superiors called a halt to his march across Europe.

In this book, he mentions how General Dwight D. Eisenhower, General Omar Bradly, and General Courtney Hodges utilized conventional military strategy and techniques to fight World War II while making little mention of British General Bernard Montgomery, except for the problems he caused for Generals Eisenhower and General George S. Patton. Also, it is now recognized by military historians that General Montgomery’s generalship and leadership were highly overrated. He also makes no mention of General Douglas MacArthur, as I believe that this is because General MacArthur utilized conventional military strategy and techniques to fight World War II, and he did not inspire his troops for a noble cause but only for revenge for the Imperial Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The troops under the command of General MacArthur had a higher casualty rate than General Bradly, General Courtney, General Patton, and British General Montgomery in WWII. Much, but not all, of this can be attributed to the Imperial Japanese Army's refusal to surrender, even in the face of death and defeat (Banzai!). However, General MacArthur bears the burden of when, where, and how to fight the Imperial Japanese Army. And in some cases, General MacArthur made poor decisions.

These poor decisions led to increased Allied casualties and needless civilian war deaths and destruction. They may even have prolonged the war, which increased Allied casualties and civilian deaths and destructions. As such, General MacArthur’s leadership and generalship left much to be desired as outlined below:

The Philippines Campaign (1941–1942)

The Philippines Campaign was not so much a campaign but a retreat and defeat. On December 8, 1941, at 03:30 local time (about 09:00 on December 7 in Hawaii), MacArthur's Chief of Staff learned of the attack on Pearl Harbor and informed MacArthur. At 05:30, the Chief of Staff of the US Army, General George Marshall, ordered MacArthur to begin executing the existing Rainbow Five war plan. Instead, MacArthur inexplicably did nothing. As a result, by the end of the first day, the strength of the Far East Air Force was reduced by half by Japanese ariel attacks, and it was eliminated as an effective fighting force. The Japanese then invaded the Philippines, and while there was no real chance of repelling the Japanese attack completely, it might have been possible to slow the advance and disrupt the Japanese timetable in the Pacific. However, any potential strategic value in doing so was lost in the addled US response at the start of the war.

After this crippling of the Far East Air Force and the Japanese Philippines invasion, MacArthur began a series of defensive actions against an Imperial Japanese Army invasion of the Philippines. These defensive actions resulted in defeat and retreat to the Bataan peninsula and then to Corregidor Island in Luzon, which is located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago.

In February 1942, as Japanese forces tightened their grip on the Philippines, President Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to relocate to Australia. On the night of March 12, 1942, MacArthur and a select group that included his wife Jean, son Arthur, Arthur's Cantonese amah, Ah Cheu, and other members of his staff, escaped via PT boats through stormy seas patrolled by Japanese warships and reached Del Monte Airfield on Mindanao Philippines, where B-17s picked them up and flew them to Australia.   Bataan surrendered on April 9, 1942, and then Corregidor surrendered on May 6, 1942.

By his actions and inactions in The Philippines Campaign, which led to over 25,000 killed, 21,000 wounded, and 100,000 captured, which led to the cruel and inhumane Bataan Death March, MacArthur did not demonstrate great generalship on his part.

The New Guinea Campaign (1942-1945) of the Pacific War lasted from January 1942 until the end of the war in August 1945. During the initial phase in early 1942, the Empire of Japan invaded the Australian-administered Mandated Territory of New Guinea (January 23) and the Australian Territory of Papua (July 21) and overran western New Guinea (beginning 29/30 March), which was a part of the Netherlands East Indies. During the second phase, lasting from late 1942 until the Japanese surrender, the Allies—consisting primarily of Australian forces—cleared the Japanese first from Papua, then the Mandate, and finally from the Dutch colony.

This campaign resulted in a crushing defeat and heavy losses for the Empire of Japan. As in most Pacific War campaigns, disease and starvation claimed more Japanese lives than enemy action. Most Japanese troops never even came into contact with Allied forces and were instead simply cut off and subjected to an effective blockade by Allied naval forces. Garrisons were effectively besieged and denied shipments of food and medical supplies, and as a result, some claim that 97% of Japanese deaths in this campaign were from non-combat causes

It was in The New Guinea Campaign that General MacArthur demonstrated great leadership and generalship. General MacArthur prevailed in all the battles he fought, with Allied casualties amounting to about 40,000, with a United States death toll of 4,684 killed and an Australian death toll c.7,000 killed, as opposed to the Japanese 127,600 killed (mostly from disease and starvation).

The Invasion of the Philippines (1944–45), or the Battle of the Philippines, or the Liberation of the Philippines, codenamed Operation Musketeer I, II, and III, was the American, Australian, and Filipino campaign to defeat and expel the Imperial Japanese forces occupying the Philippines during World War II. The Japanese Army overran all of the Philippines during the first half of 1942. The liberation of the Philippines commenced with amphibious landings on the eastern Philippine island of Leyte on October 20, 1944. The United States and Philippine Commonwealth military forces were progressing in liberating territory and islands when the Japanese forces in the Philippines were ordered to surrender by Tokyo on August 15, 1945, after the dropping of the atomic bombs on mainland Japan and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.

American Manpower Casualties were 16,233 dead and missing and 47,166 wounded in the Army, 7,270+ dead and wounded in the Navy, and tens of thousands hospitalized due to disease. Japanese Manpower Casualties were 420,000 dead and missing in the Army, with 10,000 Navy casualties at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, while up to 80% of Japanese deaths were from starvation or disease.

An Invasion of the Philippines may not have been militarily necessary. Prior to the Invasion of the Philippines, there was much dispute between General MacArthur and the Army and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and the Navy as to the next campaign. General MacArthur wanted to invade the Philippines, while Admiral Nimitz wanted to capture and occupy Formosa (now Taiwan).

Formosa is a large island between the Philippines and mainland China in the South and East China Seas. Admiral Nimitz believed that if it was captured and occupied, the Navy could stop Japanese shipping on these seas of crucial raw materials and food supplies to Japan, as the American Navy was doing to the east and north of the Philippine Islands in the Philippine Sea. As Japan was dependent on this shipping to feed its people and war production manufacturing, Admiral Nimitz believed that he could starve Japan into submission faster than an invasion of Japan could beat Japan into submission. At a minimum, Japan would have less war material to fight the war. It would also be possible to utilize Formosa as a staging area for an invasion of the Philippines if that was deemed necessary and proper.

General MacArthur believed that we should invade the Philippines, as the Philippines were American territory and that there was an extensive Philippine Resistance Movement that needed relief. It would also be possible to stop Japanese shipping of crucial raw materials and food supplies to Japan from the Philippines. Besides this, General MacArthur had also promised the Philippine people at the start of the war that he (and thus America) would return, and America had a political and moral obligation to return. He also underestimated the number of casualties and destruction that would be inflicted upon Allied troops and the Philippine people in waging the Philippines invasion.

From a strictly military perspective, an invasion of Formosa would be less costly, have the same strategic results, and could be achieved more expeditiously than a Philippines invasion. However, it was finally decided that the political and moral obligation of invading the Philippines would take precedence over a Formosa invasion, and the Invasion of the Philippines was therefore approved.

Given the actual number of casualties and destruction that the Philippines invasion inflicted on Allied troops and the Philippine people, this invasion was not a wise military decision. Therefore, I believe that General MacArthur should not be considered a great general under Victor Davis Hanson's criteria. The other reasons that I previously mentioned were that General MacArthur utilized conventional military strategy and techniques to fight World War II, and he did not inspire his troops for a noble cause but only for revenge for the Imperial Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.