20 October 1944
U.S. Forces Land on Leyte Island
After securing New Zealand, MacArthur’s next target was the Philippine Islands, from which U.S. forces—as well as MacArthur himself—had been driven two and a half years earlier. The Philippines were to serve as a staging area for what was anticipated as the final battle in the Pacific—an invasion of Japan.

MacArthur’s plan was to bypass the southern islands in the chain and land his troops on Leyte, followed by an invasion of the main island of Luzon. Air attacks on the Philippines began on October 12, and the invasion force sailed from Hollandia two days later. The first landings on Leyte took place on the 20th, and included MacArthur himself, dramatically illustrating that he had fulfilled the promise he had made in 1942, “I shall return.” The Japanese garrison on Leyte was made up almost entirely of inexperienced draftees; nevertheless they put up a much tougher fight than MacArthur had expected, and the island was not cleared of enemy troops until late December.

History:
Leyte

Campaign Maps:
Invasion of Leyte, 1944
Battle of Leyte, 1944

Personal Accounts:
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with Arthur Jiannine
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with Morton Rosenberg
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with Alma Geist Cap

Photographs:
Gen. Douglas MacArthur wades ashore during initial landings at Leyte
General MacArthur surveys the beachhead on Leyte Island, soon after American forces swept ashore from a gigantic liberation armada into the central Philippines
Two Coast Guard-manned LST's open their great jaws in the surf that washes on Leyte Island beach