William Frederic Marquat was a major general in the US Army. Prior to his service in the military, Marquat was a reporter for The Seattle Times. Prior to the Japanese invasion of 1941, Marquat served with the Office of the Military Advisor to the Commonwealth Government of the Philippines, as the chief engineering advisor.
William F. Marquat as a major general
Douglas MacArthur's escape from the Philippines
On 11 March 1942, during World War II, General Douglas MacArthur and members of his family and staff left the Philippine island of Corregidor and his forces, which were surrounded by the Japanese. They traveled in PT boats through stormy seas patrolled by Japanese warships and reached Mindanao two days later. From there, MacArthur and his party flew to Australia in a pair of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, ultimately arriving in Melbourne by train on 21 March. In Australia, he declared, "I came through and I shall return".
PT-32, one of the four PT-20 class motor torpedo boats involved in the first part of the journey
MacArthur, as the focus of U.S. war propaganda, became a symbol of Allied resistance to the Japanese
The Chief of Staff of the United States Army, George C. Marshall (left) confers with the Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson, in January 1942
Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley (left) at the helm of a PT boat
