ALLIED FORCES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20744, 20 April 1942, Page 3

ALLIED FORCES

SOUTH-WEST PACIFIC COMMANDS DEFINED (By Telegraph—Press Aasn.—Copyright.) (10.30 a.m.) MELBOURNE, April 20. By agreement among the Governments of Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States the south-west Pacific area has been constituted effective as from midnight on Saturday and General D. MacArthur formally assumed command by virtue of that authority,

This announcement was made last night at Allied headquarters in Australia.

The following commands composed of forces assigned to the south-west Pacific area by the respective governments has been created: — Allied Land Forces in the SouthWest Pacific Area —Commander, General Sir Thomas Blarney, of the Australian Army. Allied Air Forces in the SouthWest Pacific Area —Commander, Lieutenant-General G.Brett, of the United States Army.

Allied Naval Forces in the SouthWest Pacific Area—Commander, ViceAdmiral Leary of the United States Navy. United States’ forces in the Philippines—Commander, Lieut.-General J. Wainright, of the United States Army. United States Forces in Australia (service command) —Commander, Major-General Julian F. Barnes, of the United States Army No Deputy Appointed General MacArthur has assumed the title of commander-in-chief of the Allied .forces in the south-west Pacific area. His command embraces the land, air and naval forces. No deputy commander-in-chief has been designated yet. General Blarney, Lieut.-General Brett, and Vice-Admiral Leary will each have his own staff. Separate commands of the United States Army in Australia and the Philippines disappeared in the reorganisation and the commanders appointed will be subordinate to the new commander-in-chief.

Within Australia Major-General Barnes will have a command distinct from General Blarney’s. While General Blarney will control the land forces, Major-General Barnes will lead those who include members of the quarter-master’s department and those concerned with port facilities and transport. The organisation work under such headings, it is stated, justifies a special command. “As from midnight on April 18, the Commonwealth has assigned to the command of General MacArthur all combat sections of the Australian defence forces,” announced the Prime Minister, Mr. J. Curtin, yesterday. “It is not in the public interest to disclose the strength of the forces which passed to General MacArthur's command. Momentous Occasion The Prime Minister added that on receipt of advice that General MacArthur’s directive had been approved by President Roosevelt he (Mr. Curtin) addressed the following letter to General MacArthur: “This is a momentous occasion for the peoples of the United Nations. You have received a charter as supreme commander not from your Government alone but also from the Governments of Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands. You have come to Australia to lead a crusade, the result of which means everything to the future of the world and mankind. At the request of a sovereign state you are being placed in supreme command of its navy, army, and air force so that with those of your own great nation they may be welded into a homogeneous force and given that unified direction so vital for the achievement of victory. “Your directive, among other things, instructs you to prepare to take the offensive. I assure you of every possible support that can be given to you by the Government and people of Australia in making Australia secure as a base for operations, in assisting you to marshal the strength required to wrest the initiative from the enemy, and in joining with you in the ultimate offensive to bring about the total destruction of the common foe. We hope and pray that your military efforts may be crowned with great success.”