Fellers, Bonner Frank, 1896-1973

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person

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Fellers, Bonner Frank, 1896-1973

Computed Name Heading

Name Components

Surname :

Fellers

Forename :

Bonner Frank

Date :

1896-1973

eng

Latn

authorizedForm

rda

Fellers, Bonner, 1896-1973

Computed Name Heading

Name Components

Surname :

Fellers

Forename :

Bonner

Date :

1896-1973

eng

Latn

alternativeForm

rda

フェラーズ, ボナー, 1896-1973

Computed Name Heading

Name Components

Surname :

フェラーズ

Forename :

ボナー

Date :

1896-1973

eng

Latn

alternativeForm

rda

Fellers, Bonner F. (Bonner Frank), 1896-1973

Computed Name Heading

Name Components

Surname :

Fellers

Forename :

Bonner F.

NameExpansion :

Bonner Frank

Date :

1896-1973

eng

Latn

alternativeForm

rda

Genders

Male

Exist Dates

Exist Dates - Date Range

1896-02-07

February 7, 1896

Birth

1973-10-07

October 7, 1973

Death

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Biographical History

Bonner Frank Fellers (February 7, 1896 – October 7, 1973) was a US Army officer who served during World War II as military attaché, director of psychological warfare, and was a protégé of General Douglas MacArthur. Fellers graduated from West Point in 1918 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Coast Artillery Corps. Part of his service before World War II was in the Philippines, including a tour of duty from 1936 to 1938 as assistant to Gen. Douglas MacArthur, then military adviser to the Philippine Government.

In September of 1940, as a major, Fellers was sent to Europe as assistant military attaché in Madrid. After he left Madrid, he became notable as the military attaché in Egypt whose extensive transmissions of detailed British tactical information were intercepted by Axis agents. The tactical information was passed to German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel for over six months, which contributed to disastrous British defeats at Gazala and Tobruk in June 1942.

From Oct. 31, 1940, to July 20, 1942, according to the citation accompanying his Distinguished Service Medal, General Fellers “by personal observation of the battlefields, contributed materially to the tactical and technical development of our Armed Forces.” It was during this period that he filed reports on the desert campaigns in Lybia involving Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps and the British. This intelligence work also earned him his star. Ordered home in July 1942, Fellers participated in tank‐warfare training duty and was then ordered to the Pacific, where he became General MacArthur's Joint Planning Section (G‐3) chief. He accompanied General MacArthur when he flew to Tokyo to accept the Japanese surrender on Sept. 2, 1945.

After the war, Fellers played a major role in the occupation of Japan. Among his duties was liaison between HQ and the Imperial Household. Soon after occupation began, he wrote several influential memoranda concerning why it would be advantageous for the occupation, reconstruction of Japan, and long-term US interests to keep the Emperor in place if he was not clearly responsible for war crimes. In 1971, Hirohito conferred on Fellers the Second Order of the Sacred Treasure "in recognition of your long-standing contribution to promoting friendship between Japan and the United States." His role in exonerating Hirohito is the main subject of the 2012 film Emperor.

When Fellers retired in November 1946, he wrote and lectured extensively on national defense and foreign aid. From 1947 to 1952, he was an assistant to the chairman of the Republican National Committee. Fellers died of heart failure in Washington D.C. at the age of 77 years old.

eng

Latn

External Related CPF

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/10574881

https://viaf.org/viaf/28740238

https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q4942187

https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n93026264

https://id.loc.gov/authorities/n93026264

Other Entity IDs (Same As)

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Languages Used

eng

Latn

Subjects

Conservatism

Economic assistance, American

Japan

Japan

Phillipine Islands

Propaganda, American

Psychological warfare

World War, 1939-1945

World War, 1939-1945

World War, 1939-1945

World War, 1939-1945

World War, 1939-1945

Nationalities

Americans

Activities

Occupations

Army officers

Brigadier General

Legal Statuses

Places

Washington, D. C.

DC, US

AssociatedPlace

Death

Madrid

29, ES

AssociatedPlace

Work

Philippine Islands

00, PH

AssociatedPlace

Work

Illinois

IL, US

AssociatedPlace

Birth

Japan

00, JP

AssociatedPlace

Work

Cairo

11, EG

AssociatedPlace

Work

Convention Declarations

<conventionDeclaration><citation>VIAF</citation></conventionDeclaration>

General Contexts

Structure or Genealogies

Mandates

Identity Constellation Identifier(s)

w61h1bs4

85597996