MacArthur's Australian Speech - "I Shall Return"
After General MacArthur was told by the Joint Chiefs of Staff that he would not be allowed to go on to liberate the Phillipines, he delivered this defiant speech at a State Visit in Canberra, Australia to celebrate his arrival there two years earlier. Speaking to a group of Parliamentarians which included Australian Prime Minister John Curtin, MacArthur repeated the famous phrase, "I Shall Return." This is the actual working copy of his speech with a three-word correction in his handwriting near the end. The MacArthur Library has the original printed copy without the changes as well as the final corrected printed copy. Purchased from the Estate of the lateGeneral LeGrande Diller.
Original version of speech before MacArthur added his edits.
MacArthur Arrives In Australia After Fleeing Corregidor On A P-T Boat
General MacArthur greeted in Sydney by Australian Prime Minister John Curtin, 1944
This speech is included in "A Soldier Speaks Public Papers & Speeches of General of The Army Douglas MacArthur", published by Praeger, 1965
Hi Gary, Wow, thanks for sending these. As you see in the film clip, which I have never seen before, Curtin is sitting to MacArthur's left. On the one hand this confirms my comment about it being a PR statement to rally Australia, but now I wish that I had included it in the ongoing discussion by the JCS about which route to pursue across the Pacific--just as another example of MacArthur's pushing and pushing for the Philippines. Did you give Zobel copies of these? Walt Borneman, Author of "MacArthur at War" World War II In The Pacific"
