Fellers, Bonner Frank, 1896-1973
Name Entries
person
Fellers, Bonner Frank, 1896-1973
Name Components
Surname :
Fellers
Forename :
Bonner Frank
Date :
1896-1973
eng
Latn
authorizedForm
rda
Fellers, Bonner, 1896-1973
Name Components
Surname :
Fellers
Forename :
Bonner
Date :
1896-1973
eng
Latn
alternativeForm
rda
フェラーズ, ボナー, 1896-1973
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
Name Components
Surname :
Fellers
Forename :
Bonner F.
NameExpansion :
Bonner Frank
Date :
1896-1973
eng
Latn
alternativeForm
rda
Genders
Male
Exist Dates
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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Internal CPF Relations
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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.
AssociatedPlace
Death
Madrid
AssociatedPlace
Work
Philippine Islands
AssociatedPlace
Work
Illinois
AssociatedPlace
Birth
Japan
AssociatedPlace
Work
Cairo
AssociatedPlace
Work
Convention Declarations
<conventionDeclaration><citation>VIAF</citation></conventionDeclaration>