Investigating History:
GERERAL DOUGLAS MACARTHUR’s HEADQUARTERS IN TARLAC
The MacArthurs, both father (Arthur) and son (Douglas) had reminiscence in history in the Tarlac Province. The father, leading the 2nd Division, 8th Army Corps, fought the Filipino Army of Liberation at the Bamban Line near the present Bamban Museum. The son, General of the Army, was with the Sixth Army in the Liberation of the province of Tarlac and Pampanga.
The Japanese Army and Navy Forces in Clark Field area begun mobilizing in Bamban Hills in middle of December 1944, in anticipation of the American advance coming from the north. As General MacArthur and the Sixth Army landed in Lingayen on January 9, the advance to the south was an important tactical and strategic military operations especially for the capture of Clark Airfields (as well as Manila port area) where the main Japanese aerodrome center was located that will be used in future air operations in the Philippines.
In an effort to push General Walter Krueger of the Sixth Army to the drive to the south from Lingayen, General MacArthur decided to move his headquarters inland, from Dagupan to Tarlac, at the General Manager’s Residence of the Tarlac Sugar Central, also known as Hacienda Luisita. This movement of the General Headquarters under General MacArthur was in advance of General Krueger’s headquarters in Calasiao, Pangasinan. At the time of the movement of General MacArthur’s headquarters at the Hacienda Luisita, the main body of the 40th Division was already based in Bamban, fighting begun against the tenacious Japanese Kembu Group holed on the western side of the town, holed on the many tunnels of the Bamban Hills that begun in January 23, 1945.
The Tarlac Sugar Central had the main production plan, laboratory building, distillery and the main office building. There were also 4 main buildings constructed pre-war with Spanish style, along with the sugar central which was constructed in the 1920s. The Central was connected to the main Manila-Dagupan Railroad Line to the west, via the company railroad. In one of those buildings, was the General Manager’s Residence that became the home and General Headquarters (GHQ) of General Douglas MacArthur from January 25 until March 5, 1945.
From his GHQ at the Hacienda Luisita, he would visit the battlefields, at the Capas-O’Donnell, Bamban, Clark, Mabalacat, Tarlac, Balanga and Manila, often with his aides Colonels Egeberg, Lehrbas and Soriano and riding on his 5-star identified jeep. At the Hacienda Luisita headquarters, he would send numerous communiques to various commands in the Philippines, while the battle was being fought in the Japanese Kembu Group area of Clark Field, to the east of Manila with the Shimbu Group, and the Battle of Manila. If only the corridors of the General Manager’s Residence could speak, there must have been a lot of history that happened inside the building.
An American author and historian, Joseph P. Macallus wrote a book about General MacArthur, “The MacArthur Highway and Other Relics of American Empire in the Philippines”. He visited us at our Bamban WWII Museum along with the prominent Tarlaqueno historian, Dr. Lino Dizon. In one of his travels while writing his book, which I contributed some historical writings, he was able to visit General MacArthur’s former headquarters at the Hacienda Luisita, accompanied by Dr. Dizon. During his visit, he found a plaque in front of the house, which read:
“This building was used by General of the Army Douglas MacArthur; commander-in-chief Army Forces Western Pacific as his private quarters during Liberation of Luzon form the early part of February to March 1945.
With him at the time were President Sergio Osmena of the Philippine Commonwealth and General Carlos P. Romulo as his personal aide.
April 6, 1965”
In my search for photographs of General MacArthur at the Hacienda Luisita, at the time of the GHQ of his command, I was lucky enough to find one, from the book “The Years of MacArthur, Volume 2 1941 – 1945”, where he was accompanied by Secretary James Forrestal of the Navy, and dated February 28, 1945. However, it is not easy to visit General MacArthur’s former headquarters at the Hacienda Luisita, for anyone with interest in History but hopefully, this will be worked-out for arrangement in the future, so that Tarlaquenos, especially the students, students of history and teachers can have the opportunity to have a glimpse of a very important tangible building that became the home of one of the greatest general in history of WWII.
CITATION:
(1) Dorris Clayton James, The Years of MacArthur, Volume 2 1941 – 1945 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1975).
(2) Joseph P. McCallus, The MacArthur Highway and Other Relics of American Empire in the Philippines (Washinton DC: Potomac Books, Inc., 2010).
(3) Terrain Handbook 40 – Cabanatuan Central Luzon, Allied Geographical Section Southwest Pacific Area, Philippine Series, November 3, 1944.
PHOTOGRAPHS:
(a) General MacArthur with Secretary of the Navy James Forrestall strolling at the grounds of the Hacienda Luisita GHQ, February 28, 1945. Source: The Years of MacArthur, Volume 2 1941 – 1945.
(b) Aerial view of the Tarlac Sugar Central, circa 1937, showing the facilities and the buildings which the General Manager’s Residence; General MacArthur’s headquarters, is located. Source: Terrain Handbook 40 – Cabanatuan Central Luzon, Allied Geographical Section Southwest Pacific Area, Philippine Serie.
(c) Map showing the location of the Hacienda Luisita and the Tarlac Sugar Central, circa October 1944. Source: Terrain Handbook 40 – Cabanatuan Central Luzon, Allied Geographical Section Southwest Pacific Area, Philippine Series.
(d) General MacArthur visiting the American Cemetery at the former Camp O’Donnell in Capas, Tarlac, January 26, 1945. US National Archives and Records Administration NARA.
(e) General MacArthur and staff, at the grounds of Fort Stotsenburg, Clark Field, Pampanga, late January 1945. At the background is the building used by the Base Commander of Clark Field, known as White House.
