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| General Douglas MacArthur Lands at Leyte Gulf Philippines (photo via wikipedia) |
In
May 1944, American personnel on service in Australia commandeered an American
ship, the “Apache”, that was
under modification in Sydney Harbor and it was fitted out with two
transmitters and associated equipment, including two power generators. An AWA shortwave communication transmitter in
storage in Brisbane was modified for voice capability, and two American made
International Harvester power generators, each at 50 kW, were taken from
American army stores already in Australia and these items were all installed in
the “Apache”.
Back at that time, the construction
of a 10 kW medium wave transmitter was nearing completion at a radio factory
near Melbourne in Victoria. This
transmitter was originally intended for installation by the PMG Department for
use as an ABC medium wave station on 880 kHz at an unstated location.
It is possible that this 10 kW unit
was originally intended for installation at 6GN at Geraldton in Western
Australia on 880 kHz. A few months
later, a 2 kW transmitter was indeed inaugurated as 6GN in Geraldton, though on
820 kHz.
Traveling alone along the east coast
of Australia, the “Apache”
arrived on schedule at the edge of Humboldt Bay on the northern coast of New
Guinea, on October 11, 1944. However, at
this stage, the “Apache”
broke down and it had to be towed into the bay area at Hollandia, where repairs
were quickly carried out.
For the first time, test broadcasts
were made from the two transmitters.
Just before noon on
Friday October 13, 1944, power was
applied successfully to the medium wave transmitter. This unit was then powered down, and then
power was successfully applied to the shortwave transmitter. Next in this sequence, power was applied to
both transmitters simultaneously, and then there was a loud pop, and the system
closed down automatically.
Following the quick replacement of a
blown large capacitor, the system was again activated, and voice contact was
made on shortwave with San Francisco.
Radio silence was imposed at 3:00 pm that afternoon
on all ships in the flotilla that were bound for the Philippines. The “Apache” went silent now for a whole week.
Another innovative radio ship that
joined the flotilla that was bound for the Philippines was the little ship that
was identified as “FP47”. This ship, just 125 feet long, was also built
in the United States originally for freight and passenger traffic with
Alaska.
The “FP47” was also taken to Sydney in New South
Wales Australia, where it was completely rebuilt and re-outfitted with radio
equipment that included two American army Morse Code transmitters at 500 watts
each and two power generators. The “FP47” also sailed
alone from Sydney to Hollandia in readiness for the return invasion of the
Philippines.
The Hollandia contingent of ships
set sail at 4:00 pm on October 12 and they were joined by many additional ships
from several American bases along the northern coast of New Guinea. The total invasion force numbered more than
750 ships that made the week long journey of 1400 miles from New Guinea to the
Leyte Gulf in the Philippines.
Included in this massive flotilla
were several radio ships, most of which were fitted out with radio equipment in
Sydney or Brisbane. There were five
major radio ships in the invasion fleet, in addition to a fleet of smaller and
temporary radio communication ships.
The “Apache” was intended mainly for the transfer
of press and radio information to the United States, as well as for the
transmission of American radio programming to listeners in the
Philippines. The “FP47” was used
occasionally for the transmission of news and information back to the United
States in Morse Code, though its main purpose was for the communication and the
coordination of invasion information and tactics.
Three radio communication ships that
were in use for tactical invasion information were identified as PCER848,
PCER849 and PCER850. These American
ships had each been taken to Australia where AWA transmission equipment was
installed before they were deployed “up north”. We
could also mention that there were as many as a dozen additional small radio
ships, some American and some Australian, that were in temporary usage for
invasion events and activities.
The massive fleet arrived in Leyte
Gulf, Philippines during the evening of October 20, 1944;
the “Apache” made a series of radio broadcasts on
shortwave on October 21; and MacArthur announced to the world on October 22,
his famous “I have returned” speech.
At the time of this broadcast,
MacArthur was ashore at Red Beach, north of Palo on Samar Island. An American army vehicle, a weapons carrier,
had been fitted up as a mobile communication station, and MacArthur made his
speech from this location.
This mobile broadcast was picked up
on a navy vessel off shore, the light cruiser USS “Nashville”, which was the
command ship under General Douglas MacArthur for the return invasion of the
Philippines. From the “Nashville”, MacArthur’s famous words
were flashed on shortwave to the “Apache” nearby, and thence across the Pacific
to New Guinea, Australia, Hawaii and the United States.
A location map giving the radio
circuits in use for this historic broadcast shows that the radio signals from
the two ships, “Nashville” & “Apache” were received
and retransmitted by MacArthur’s radio stations at Hollandia in New Guinea and
Brisbane in Australia, and thence by RCA and army radio in Honolulu, to RCA and
AT&T San Francisco. In addition,
shortwave station KGEI at San Francisco in California relayed the MacArthur
speech for shortwave listeners throughout the Pacific.
(AWR/Wavescan-NWS 301 via Adrian Peterson)