PACIFIC COMMAND

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25814, 9 April 1945, Page 6

PACIFIC COMMAND

APPOINTMENTS WELCOMED BRITAIN’S PART IN STRUGGLE (Rec. 9.45 p.m.) NEW YORK, Apl. 7. A high British official said that the appointments of General MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz were entirely satisfactory to Britain, reports the Herald-Tribune’s Washington correspondent. The climatic campaign against Japan proper will be directed by American strategy and command, but this does not affect British determination to send every available man, ship, and plane to the Pacific after the European victory. • The present Allied strategy also calls for Lord Louis Mountbatten to continue as Commander -in - Chief, South-east Asia, with Malaya. Sumatra, Java, and Thailand, and probably IndoChina and Borneo included in his command. It is not anticipated that a Supreme Allied Command in the Pacific as in Europe will be established. „ „ . , . It is thought that if Russia declares war against Japan the Russians will retain command of their own Pacific forces, converting the war into a threefront affair, with the Russians operating from Siberia, the Americans moving in from the Philippines and Central Pacific, and the British mopping up South-east Asia and the Netherlands Indies. •