MELLNIK, DYESS AND MCCOY
THEIR ESCAPE FROM THE PHILIPPINES
TO AUSTRALIA DURING WWII
On 4 April 1943, the following US service personnel were able to escape from a POW work camp, in the Davao Region of the Philippines:-
Under the leadership of Lt. Cmdr McCoy they linked up with the guerrilla forces fighting the Japanese in the mountains. On 6 May 1943, Lt. Cmdr McCoy was able to send two radio dispatches to a guerilla radio station which communicated with Australia, probably through to radio station KAZ in Australia. One message was from McCoy to Commander Naval Forces Southwest Pacific and the other from Mellnik to Lieutenant General Richard K. Sutherland, General Headquarters U.S. Army Forces in Australia. Both messages stated they had escaped from a Japanese POW Camp in Davao Penal Colony. McCoy's message requested submarine transportation to Australia.
Mellnik's message to Lt. Gen. Sutherland read as follows:-
"Have escaped with seven officers and two enlisted men from Japanese War Prisoners' camp in Davao Penal Colony x Lieutenant Commander McCoy US Navy has requested Senior Naval Officer in Australia for submarine transportation to Australia x will your office assure a favorable answer x Japs violating all rules of warfare and decency x fifty percent USAFFE forces surrendered in Bataan now dead from malnutrition and diseases x remainder in various stages of beri beri, dysentery, malaria and blindness due to vitamin deficiency x Wainwright, Moore, Beebe, Drake good health at surrender x Regards Colonel Diller, Generals Marquat and Willoughby x Hope to see you soon. x"
Lt. Cmdr McCoy subsequently discovered that Lieutenant Colonel Fertig, head of the guerilla forces, had refused to send either message to Australia and had not bothered to advise McCoy of his decision. Whilst waiting for Commander "Chick" Parsons in Talakag about 24 miles south of Del Monte Airfield, McCoy sent a radio message to Colonel Fertig asking whether his two messages had been forwarded to Australia. Fertig did not answer. McCoy subsequently discovered that Fertig had finally sent a message to Australia stating:-
"Lieutenant Commander McCoy and Major Mellnik have arrived having escaped from American Prison Camp at Davao."
McCoy and Mellnik moved to Misamis in northern Mindanao and left there on 26 June just before it was occupied by the Japanese. McCoy and Mellnik then travelled to Bonifacio by an unprotected motor launch that could only manage 4 knots top speed. They then hiked to Colonel Fertig's main radio station. Commander "Chick" Parsons arrived there on 2 July and Major Dyess arrived the following day. McCoy, Mellnik, Dyess, Charles Smith and Parsons left there on 3 July 1943 for their rendezvous with the US Navy submarine.
Their journey was difficult and they were being hunted by the Japanese. They lost contact with their guide and they ended up being behind the Japanese party looking for them. Eventually the Japanese turned left and they turned right and lost them. Charles Smith was able to use his personal compass to find their way to the rendezvous point in Pagadian Bay.
On 8 July 1943, US submarine USS Trout was underway on the surface on one engine proceeding to Moro Gulf. Its plan was to cover Japanese morning traffic at Jolo and evening traffic at Basilan as it proceeded towards Moro Gulf on the southern side of Mindanao. At 2300 hours on 8 July it set course for its Special Mission to pick up the following personnel on 9 July 1943 from Pagadian Bay in Moro Gulf:-
They then travelled to Fremantle in Western Australia onboard USS Trout. Mellnik, Dyess and McCoy were the first U.S. POWs to escape Japanese captivity.
Over the following few months, four of the other escapees were transported by US Navy submarines to Fremantle in Western Australia. Three of the escapees stayed behind to fight the Japanese with the guerrillas. One of the three, 2nd Lieutenant Leo Boelens, was later killed by the Japanese.
Visiting General
MacArthur in his GHQ SWPA office in Brisbane at 6:05pm on Friday 30 July 1943 were
L to R:- Major William E. Dyess (Air Corps), Commander Melvyn H. McCoy (USN),
General
Douglas MacArthur and Major Stephen M. Mellnik (Coast Artillery Corps).
Present but not in the
photograph were Colonel Whitney,
Commander "Chick" Parsons and
Captain Charles Smith.
The very first accounts of the atrocities committed by the Japanese on U.S. prisoners of war were revealed in an article by Major Mellnik and Lt. Cmdr McCoy in Life magazine in February 1944.
Retired Army Brig. Gen. Stephen Mellnik died died at the age of 86 years on Saturday 1 January 1994 at the Beaumont Army Medical Center.
REFERENCES
"Escape of Lt. Comdr. Melvyn H. McCoy, USN for a
Japanese Prison Camp in the Philippines"
on Fold3 web site
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I'd like to thank James Zobel and Bill Bartsch for their assistance with this web page.
Can anyone help me with more information?
"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products
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This page first produced 3 April 2020
This page last updated 03 April 2020
