KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE
AMONG World War II’s enduring images are those of General Douglas MacArthur wading ashore from a landing craft, fulfilling his promise “to return”. These daylight photo opportunities were in sharp contrast to his 1942 midnight flit by PT boat from the Corregidor Fortress in Manilla Bay, where as an army engineer 40 years earlier, he was involved in fortification construction.
One such image was captured during the invasion of Los Negros, on eastern Manus Island when, after an 0817hrs main force landing on February 29, 1944, the South-West Pacific Area’s thespian in chief landed at 1600hrs.
An objective of this element of the Admiralty Islands campaign was to secure strategic Momote airfield, post-war an operational RAAF base.
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