L O S S O F N E T H E R L A N D S E A S T I N D I E S
bombers to the Philippines and for the development of installations
essential to the South Pacific air route; an exchange of visits between
American, British, Dutch, and Australian officers had occurred; and
commitments had been made for a sharing of intelligence and of the
responsibility for reconnaissance to facilitate close co-operation.
Indeed, by November 1941 the threatening crisis in relations with
Japan had brought a general agreement extending somewhat beyond
a policy merely of co-operation: the commanders of the British Far
Eastern Fleet and the American Asiatic Fleet were to draft a joint
plan of naval operations with a view to its expansion by consultation
with the Dutch into a three-power plan of action; air and ground
commanders-American, British, and Dutch-similarly were to pre-
pare joint plans for operations to be co-ordinated where necessary
with those of the naval forces; close liaison was to be maintained
between all major headquarters, logistical facilities would be shared,
and local commanders might agree upon unity of command for par-
ticular task forces.’ T h e march of events allowed little time for the
perfection of these plans. But a beginning had been made; and under
the impact of an emergency far more serious than any that had been
anticipated, the principle of unity of command already agreed upon
as a basic feature of Anglo-American collaboration was accepted by
the associated powers in the Pacific.
The ABDA Command
Responding to General Marshall’s argument that “a man with good
judgment and unity of command has a distinct advantage over a man
with brilliant judgment who must rely on cooperation,” * the
ARCADIA conference of the British and American chiefs of staff on
2 9 December considered a draft directive for a supreme commander of
the so-called ABDA (American, British, Dutch, Australian) area.” O n
the same day, Prime Minister Churchill informed Gen. Sir Archibald
Wavell of his selection as supreme commander, and by 2 January a
directive for the new command had been approved tentatively by the
President and the Prime M i n i ~ t e r . ~T h e newly established theater
included Burma, Malaya, the Netherlands East Indies, and the Philip-
pines. As supreme commander, General Wavell was to hold Burma
and the Malay barrier-a line presumably well anchored at Singapore
For a discussion of this and other action of the ARCADrA conference with
reference to the over-all strategy of the war, see above, Chapter 7.
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