Claire Phillips

Claire Phillips

World War II spy Claire Phillips
Born Claire Maybelle Snyder
(1907-12-02)December 2, 1907
Michigan, USA
Died May 22, 1960(1960-05-22) (aged 52)
Portland, Oregon, USA
Nationality United States
Other names Clara Phillips
Clara Fuentes
Dorothy Clara Fuentes
"High Pockets"
Occupation Entertainer and club owner
Known for World War II spy
Notable work Manila Espionage
Home town Portland, Oregon
Spouse(s) (1) Manuel Fuentes
(2) John V. Phillips
Children Dian (Diane) Claire Fuentes
Awards Medal of Freedom

Claire Maybelle Snyder (December 2, 1907 – May 22, 1960), also known as Clara Fuentes, Clara Phillips, Dorathy Fuentes as well as High Pockets, was an American spy, entertainer, club owner, and author most noted for her exploits in the Japanese-occupied Philippines. She was portrayed by Ann Dvorak in the 1951 movie I Was an American Spy. She was also the author of Manila Espionage, a book about her wartime experiences. In 1951, she was awarded the Medal of Freedom.

Many of Phillips' statements and claims about spying were later determined to be "without foundation", although in 1957 she was awarded $1,349.21 by the United States Court of Claims in compensation for assistance she had provided to American Prisoners of War and Filipino resistance movements.[1]

Early years

Claire Maybelle Snyder was born on December 2, 1907 in Michigan to Jesse Edgar Snyder, a marine engineer, and his wife Mable. Claire's family moved to Portland Oregon when she was a young child. She grew up in Portland. She attended Franklin High School in Portland before running away to join a traveling circus [2][3][4]

Pre-war

In the 1930s, she worked in night clubs in the northwest U.S. and later joined a musical stock company that toured east Asia including Hong Kong and Manila. While on tour in the Philippines, she met Filipino sailor Manuel Fuentes at a night club where she was performing. They married and had a daughter, Dian [later Americanized to Diane] Claire. The marriage did not last long and soon the couple divorced. She briefly returned to Portland.

Before the beginning of the war, Claire, now Claire Fuentes returned to the Philippines and was singing in a night club in Manila where she met her future second husband, Sgt. John V. Phillips. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the couple retreated with the army away from Manila. On December 24, 1941, they got married in the jungle.[3]

War years

During the invasion of the Philippines by Japanese forces in 1941 and early 1942, her husband was captured. He later died in a prison camp, though she did not learn this until some time later. After the surrender of the American forces in the Philippines on April 9, 1942, she was convinced by an American soldier turned insurgent named John Boone to help the resistance.[5]

Working with a young Filipino dancer named Fely Corcuera, Phillips arranged forged papers and created a new identity for herself as a Philippine-born Italian dancer named Dorothy Clara Fuentes. Together the two women established a cabaret titled "Club Tsubaki", a gentleman's club that would quickly become popular with Japanese officers in Manila. Using the cabaret as a cover, Phillips was a member of the so-called "Miss U spy ring" that obtained information from the Japanese officers who patronized the club.[5] The spy ring was intended to support the Philippine resistance. Some of the information she collected was transmitted to American forces in the Pacific and used to predict and counter Japanese military activities.

In addition to her spying, she worked extensively with Naomi Flores, Margaret Utinsky and anti-Japanese guerrilla movements to smuggle desperately needed food, medicines, supplies and information to the prisoners of the Cabanatuan prisoner of war camp. To the prisoners of the camp, she became known as "High Pockets". The name was said to be a description of her method of smuggling messages by hiding them in her brassiere.

On May 23, 1944, Phillips was apprehended by the Kempeitai[5] (the Japanese military police) after one of the messengers she used to contact the POWs at Cabanatuan was captured, interrogated and killed. She was taken to Bilibid Prison, the infamous Japanese prison in Manila (two miles from the American prison camp), where she was tortured for information. Despite the torture, Phillips refused to talk. She was held in solitary confinement for six months and was to be executed for espionage. This sentence was commuted to twelve years confinement at hard labor. In January 1945, when she was liberated from the prison by American forces, she was close to starving to death.

Veracity and compensation

After World War II, Phlllips filed a claim with the United States Court of Claims for 146,850 US dollars in return for her wartime services. The Court turned down her claim and determined that she was "guilty of false testimony and fraud."[6] A subsequent 1957 court ruling found that "many" of her "statements and claims were later found to be without foundation", but nevertheless awarded her 1,349.21 US dollars for the assistance she furnished to American prisoners of war and Filipino guerrillas.[1]

Post-war

After the war, Phillips returned with her daughter, Diane,[4] to the United States, where she wrote Manila Espionage, a book about her experiences. Her story was made into the Hollywood movie I Was An American Spy (1951), starring Ann Dvorak as Phillips. Phillips was a guest on the episode of the television series This Is Your Life that aired March 15, 1950.[5][7]

Upon the recommendation of General Douglas MacArthur, she received the Medal of Freedom in 1951.[5]

Claire Phillips died of meningitis[5] in 1960 at the age of 52.

References

  1. 1 2 "Clavier v. United States". July 12, 1957. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Claire Maybelle "Clara" Snyder Phillips (1907 - 1960) - Find A Grave Memorial". Findagrave.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  3. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 30, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Adoptee’s grandmother was ‘An American Spy’ | Local". democratherald.com. 2009-09-02. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "People & Events: Claire Phillips". PBS: American Experience. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  6. ↑ Kaminsky, Theresa (2015), Angels of the Underground, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 420-424
  7. ↑ "This Is Your Life Episode List". Classic TV Info. Retrieved 2016-04-09.

Bibliography


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