The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia: Magruder, John (original) (raw)

Magruder was a graduate (and later commandant) of Virginia Military Institute who spent much of his career in staff or military attaché assignments. He was the head of the American military mission to China at the time war broke out in the Pacific. Chosen for the post because he was a general officer who had previously served as military attaché in China (the only other officer so qualified being Stilwell), his nominal role was directing the flow of Lend-Lease supplies to the Kuomintang. However, he was also responsible for securing the logistics to support the American Volunteer Group and to advise Chiang Kai-shek on use of Lend-Lease while discretely acting to ensure that Lend-Lease supplies were not wasted or misused. (It was Magruder who first voiced the suspicion that Chiang was hoarding Lend-Lease against a civil war with the Communists rather than using it to fight the Japanese.) He was directed to work directly with Chiang and was not authorized to engage in staff conversations, but was to transmit all proposals to Washington without comment. This proved to be a nearly unworkable assignment.

1887-6-3

Born in Woodstock, Virginia

1909

Graduates from Virginia Military Institute

1910

Second leiutenant

Commissioned in the infantry

1911

Transfers to the artillery

1918

Major

120 Field Artillery Regiment, France

1920

Assistant military attaché , Peking

1925

Command and General Staff College

1926

Military attaché , Peking

1930

Army War College

1932

Commandant, Virginia Military Institute

1935

Military attaché , Switzerland

1938

Chief, Intelligence Division, War Department

1939

Colonel

1940

Brigadier general

1941

Commander, artillery, 1 Division

1941

Chief, American Military Mission to China

1943

Headquarters, Service of Supply

1943

Deputy director, Intelligence, OSS

1944

Public Relations, War Department

1944

Deputy director, Intelligence, OSS

1945

Director, Strategic Services Unit, War Department

1946-10-31

Retires

1958-4-30

Dies