In 1943 Eleanor Roosevelt made a five-week, goodwill tour of the South Pacific, during which she spoke to approximately 400,000 men. We begin with her arrival at Christmas Island.
- Aug. 19 - Christmas Island
"Right from the beginning
I followed my sons' advice: 'Mummy, don't take every meal with the brass. See
that you have a meal with the noncommissioned officers and get a
noncommissioned officer to drive you around, and get one meal with the enlisted
men themselves.' The only way to accomplish this last was to get up and eat
breakfast with the men before six o'clock."
- Aug. 20 - Penryhn Island (Tongareva Island)
- Aug. 21 - Spend the day at Borabora, Society Islands
- Aug. 22 - Aitutaki
"One evening we landed at an airfield just at
sunset. To my surprise, there was no twilight in this part of the world. The
moon and the stars shone and it was night, and then, before you realize it,
full daylight."
- Aug. 23 - Tutuila, Samoa
- Aug. 24-25 - Fiji
- Aug. 26 - Noumea, New Caledonia
"When I reached Noumea and met
Admiral Halsey, I presented my letters from my husband. The admiral has told
his own story of how much he dreaded my coming. He did not dread it any more
than I did, but I determined to do as well as I could, and if it was possible
to get up to Guadalcanal."
- Aug. 27-28 - Auckland, New Zealand
- Aug. 29-30 - Wellington, New Zealand
"We had only rest camps and
hospitals in New Zealand, but I could see the effects of the tremendous influx
of our men who had gone from there, first to Guadalcanal and later to other
parts of the Pacific. By the time I got there some of the New Zealand men were
coming back and I got one amusing letter asking me if I would not see that our
men left their girls alone."
- Aug. 31 - Rotorua, New Zealand
"While I was in New Zealand I visited
Rotorua, the home of the Maoris, who had shown our servicemen much hospitality.
The head guide, Rangi, who showed me about, was a wonderful woman, brilliant,
witty and dignified."
- Sept. 1-2 - Auckland, New Zealand
- Sept. 3 - Sydney, Australia
- Sept. 4-5 - Canberra, Australia
"It is not until you get here that you
realize what a colossal job our men have done and what difficulties of
transportation have had to be overcome, without taking into account the hard,
desperate fighting which had to go on at the same time."
- Sept. 6-7 - Melbourne, Australia
- Sept. 8-9 - Sydney, Australia
- Sept. 10 - Rockhampton, Australia
- Sept. 11-12 - Cairns, Australia
"Out here there is great interest in
the speed of production at home, for the men who have been here 20 months
remember facing the enemy with scarcely any plane protection. They went hungry
sometimes for 24 hours, because there were not enough plans to fly them food as
well as ammunition and reinforcements."
- Sept. 13 - Brisbane, Australia
"Everywhere in Australia people tell
you of their gratitude for what General MacArthur's leadership has done. One
woman said to me, 'When he landed I felt as though we had fifty thousand men to
defend us.'"
- Sept. 14-15 - Noumea (2), New Caledonia
"Back at Noumea, I still did
not know whether I was to be allowed to go to Guadalcanal or was starting
homeward. The last evening, after I had spent the day doing all the things
that had been arranged for me by Admiral Halsey, he announced that I was to be
ready to leave the next morning at eight o'clock for Efate."
- Sept. 16 - Efate/Espiritu Santo
"I was not to mention the name of the
island (Efate) because the Japs had never bombed it and we had some of our
biggest hospitals there. He hoped that they did not know we were established
there."
- Sept. 17 - Guadalcanal
"At first there was complete surprise on the
faces of the men, and then one boy in stentorian tones said: 'Gosh, there's
Eleanor.' I am never quite sure whether to take this as a compliment or to be a
little ashamed of it, but they were so evidently pleased to see women, we had
to laugh and go on waving."
"An alert sounded as we were driving into the hospital area after supper. A
motorcycle military policeman dashed by, calling out 'Air raid!' We were
driven immediately to a shelter. I think the officers felt it would prove to
be a false alarm, for the moon was not yet up . . . Tojo likes a full moon, the
boys told me, and later in the night it is almost as clear as day."
- Sept. 18 - Espiritu Santo
- Sept. 19 - Wallis and Christmas Islands
"My time on Christmas island
was short and I visited only one boy, about whom the doctor was very much
worried. At the hospital I made him promise that he would try to get well if I
would try to see his mother on my return. I did see her, and fortunately he
recovered and came to see me when he got back to the United States."
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