10,000 Beatles Fans Foiled in Manila (1966)

 

10,000 Beatles Fans Foiled in Manila

Associated Press

July 4, 1966

    The Marines, a helicopter, 25 motorcycle police, an armored car, and an airline pilot combined to avoid 10,000 Beatles fans at Manila Airport yesterday. The fans, many carrying pictures of their heroes, waited for several hours in the broiling sun for the group to arrive from Hong Kong, but when the Cathay Pacific Jet landed, it stopped at the end of the 1000-foot runway, almost a mile from the terminal.

     Then cars took the Beatles along the runway, escorted by motorcycle police, with sirens screaming and red lights flashing, and followed by two ambulances and an armored car. The armored car stood by in case the Beatles were mobbed and needed rescuing. The ambulances were there in case fans were injured. A helicopter directed the convoy to the gate which had the fewest fans. Tearful girls hurled themselves at the cars in the hope of stopping the convoy, but no one was hurt. 

    The convoy sped to the Philippine Navy headquarters on Manila Bay foreshore, where Marines stood guard. A seven foot launch took the Beatles out into the Bay. "It's safer for the Beatles out there than on shore," said Mr. Vic Lewis, a Beatles representative.

     The Beatles are to give two performances at the 100,000 seat open-air Rizal Football Stadium tonight. President Ferdinand Marcos, his wife, and their three young children were reported to be flying from the island of Leyte to see the show .

    Tomorrow, the Beatles are to take a KLM flight back to London. Before leaving Hong Kong, the Beatles said they considered their Japan tour a success, despite some anti-Beatles movement. "There was always some opposition," said Paul McCartney. 

    In Tokyo, the Beatles had been taken by car from their hotel to the aircraft steps. About 80 car loads of fans followed until police stopped them at the airport entrance. From midnight until the group left yesterday morning, the 1,000 police on duty turned away more than 2,000 teenagers under elaborate police guard.

     The group saw little of Japan. They said they enjoyed working before Japanese audiences, although they were "less responsive and more polite" than those in most other countries.