Southwest Pacific Area

South West Pacific Area (SWPA) was the name given to the Allied supreme military command in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands in the Pacific theatres of World War II, during 1942–1945. SWPA included the Philippines, Borneo, the Dutch East Indies (excluding Sumatra), Australia, the Territory of New Guinea (including the Bismarck Archipelago), the western part of the Solomon Islands and some neighbouring territories. The supreme commander, General Douglas MacArthur, was in charge of primarily United States and Australian forces. Dutch, Filipino, British and other Allied forces also served in the SWPA. The command was disestablished on 2 September 1945.

Origins

A map of the Pacific Theater.

The forerunner of the South West Pacific Area was the short-lived American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDA). The rapid Japanese advance through the Dutch East Indies effectively divided the ABDA area in two, and in late February 1942, ABDA was wound up at the recommendation of its commander, the British Field Marshal Sir Archibald Wavell, who—as Commander in Chief in India—retained responsibility for Allied operations in Burma and Sumatra.Vorlage:Sfn

What would replace ADBA was the subject of discussions between the Australian and New Zealand chiefs of staff that were held in Melbourne between 26 February and 1 March 1942. They proposed creating a new theatre of war encompassing Australia and New Zealand, under the command of Wavell's former deputy, Lieutenant General George Brett, who had assumed command of the US Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA) on 25 February.Vorlage:Sfn

The President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt, and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill, discussed the matter of command arrangements in the Pacific in Washington, D.C., on 9 March. Roosevelt proposed that the world would be divided into British and American areas of responsibility, with the United States having responsibility for the Pacific, where there would be an American supreme commander responsible to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Churchill responded favourably to the proposal, and the governments of Australia and New Zealand were then consulted. They endorsed the idea of an American supreme commander, but wanted to have some form of input into matters of strategy.Vorlage:Sfn

This resulted in the creation of the Pacific War Council, which met for the first time in London on 10 February 1942. Churchill, Clement Attlee and Anthony Eden represented the United Kingdom, and Earle Page represented Australia, along with representatives from the Netherlands, New Zealand, India and China. Page was replaced as the Australian representative by Stanley Bruce in June 1942. A parallel Pacific War Council was created in Washington, D.C., that first met on 1 April 1942. It was chaired by Roosevelt, with Richard Casey and later Owen Dixon representing Australia, and Prime Minister, Mackenzie King representing Canada. The Pacific War Council never became an effective body, and had no input into strategy, but did allow the Dominions to put their concerns before the President.Vorlage:SfnVorlage:Sfn

Creation

The obvious choice for a supreme commander in the Pacific was General Douglas MacArthur, who had been ordered to leave the Philippines for Australia to command of a reconstituted ABDA area on 22 February 1942, and had therefore been promised the command even before discussions on what it should be had been held. MacArthur had solid support from the President, the Army and the American people, but not the Navy. The Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, Admiral Ernest King, saw the Pacific as a primarily naval responsibility and would not yield command to an Army officer. As there was no naval officer who could match MacArthur in prestige and standing, he proposed dividing the Pacific into separate areas. While the Army planners, led by Brigadier General Dwight Eisenhower, while willing to compromise on a divided command, objected to placing Australia and New Zealand in separate theatres. The Joint Chiefs of Staff discussed the matter between 9 and 16 March, the result of which was a decision to adopt the Navy's plan, with only minor amendments.Vorlage:Sfn

While this was still going on the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, General George Marshall, had contacted Brett and asked him to get the Australian government to nominate MacArthur, whose arrival in Australia was now imminent, as its choice for supreme commander. This was done on 17 March, when MacArthur arrived in Darwin. On 24 March 1942, the Combined Chiefs of Staff issued a directive formally designating the Pacific theater an area of American strategic responsibility. On 30 March, the Joint Chiefs of Staff divided the Pacific theatre into three areas: the Pacific Ocean Areas (POA), under Admiral Chester Nimitz; the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA), under MacArthur; and the Southeast Pacific Area, which never became an active theatre.Vorlage:Sfn

An annex defined SWPA's boundaries: Vorlage:Quote

An important principle was that any alteration to the boundaries or command arrangements in SWPA required the consent of the Australian government.Vorlage:Sfn

General Headquarters

General Douglas MacArthur and Australian Prime Minister John Curtin.

MacArthur became the Supreme Commander Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA), although he preferred to use the more conventional title of Commander in Chief.Vorlage:Sfn On 17 April the Prime Minister of Australia, John Curtin, directed Australian personnel to treat orders from MacArthur "as emanating from the Commonwealth Government".Vorlage:Sfn The next day MacArthur issued General Order No. 1, creating five subordinate commands: Allied Land Forces, Allied Air Forces, Allied Naval Forces, United States Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA), and the United States Army Forces in the Philippines.Vorlage:Sfn The last command had a short life. Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright's United States Army Forces in the Philippines disintegrated over the following three weeks, and disappeared entirely when Wainwright surrendered on Corregidor on 6 May.Vorlage:Sfn

MacArthur announced the composition of his staff, known as General Headquarters (GHQ) on 19 April. Major General Richard K. Sutherland became Chief of Staff; Brigadier General Richard J. Marshall, Deputy Chief of Staff; Colonel Charles P. Stivers, Assistant Chief of Staff, G-1; Colonel Charles A. Willoughby, Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2; Brigadier General Stephen J. Chamberlin, Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3; Colonel Lester J. Whitlock, Assistant Chief of Staff, G-4; Brigadier General Spencer B. Akin, Signal Officer; Brigadier General Hugh J. Casey, Engineer Officer; Brigadier General William F. Marquat, Antiaircraft Officer; Colonel Burdette M. Fitch, Adjutant General; and Col. LeGrande A. Diller, Public Relations Officer.Vorlage:Sfn

Although Marshall had recommended that MacArthur appoint as many Australian and Dutch officers to senior positions as possible, most of his staff was made up of US Army officers who had served under him in the Philippines. The rest, including Whitlock, Fitch and Chamberlain, had been on the staff of USAFIA. MacArthur reported to Marshall that there were no qualified Dutch officers in Australia, and that the Australian Army had a critical shortage of staff officers that he did not wish to exacerbate. Dutch, Australian and Naval officers served in junior positions on the staff.Vorlage:SfnVorlage:Sfn In July, MacArthur moved his GHQ north, from Melbourne to Brisbane, where it was located in the AMP Building. The original intention had been to move to Townsville, but this was found to be impractical, as Townsville lacked the communications facilities that GHQ required.Vorlage:Sfn The Allied Air Forces and Allied Naval Forces headquarters were co-located with GHQ in the AMP building. The Advanced Headquarters of Allied Land Forces opened at St Lucia, about Vorlage:Convert away.Vorlage:Sfn GHQ subsequently moved to Hollandia in September 1944,Vorlage:Sfn Leyte in October 1944,Vorlage:Sfn and Manila in May 1945.Vorlage:Sfn

There was a major reorganisation in April 1945 for the planned invasion of Japan. All Army forces in the Pacific were placed under MacArthur's command, including those in Nimitz's Pacific Ocean Areas. A new command was formed, Army Forces Pacific (AFPAC), with GHQ operating as the headquarters of both AFPAC and SWPA. However units in POA remained under Nimitz's operational control, and the first major formation, the Tenth United States Army, did not pass to AFPAC control until 31 July 1945.Vorlage:Sfn SWPA, together with the Allied Air Forces, Allied Naval Forces and Allied Land Forces, was abolished on 2 September 1945, but GHQ remained as GHQ AFPAC.Vorlage:Sfn

USASOS

USAFIA was commanded by Major General Julian F. Barnes, who had commanded the first US troops to arrive in Australia, at Brisbane in December 1941. His 4,600 troops had been part of a convoy that had been en route to the Philippines when war had broken out in the Pacific, and had been diverted to Australia.Vorlage:Sfn A series of bases had gradually been built in Australia, initially to support the US forces in the Philippines. Seven base sections were established in Australia that operated under USAFIA: Base Section 1 at Birdum, Northern Territory; Base Section 2 in Townsville; Base Section 3 in Brisbane; Base Section 4 in Melbourne; Base Section 5 in Adelaide; Base Section 6 in Perth; and Base Section 7 in Sydney.Vorlage:Sfn On 20 July USAFIA became the United States Army Services of Supply, Southwest Pacific Area (USASOS SWPA), under the command of Brigadier General Richard J. Marshall, and Barnes returned to the United States.Vorlage:SfnVorlage:Sfn

When Lieutenant General Walter Krueger's Sixth United States Army headquarters arrived in Australia in February 1943, the administrative functions were taken from USASOS and given to a new headquarters, United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), under MacArthur's command. This had the same name as MacArthur's old headquarters in the Philippines, but its function was different. This left USASOS with logistical responsibilities only.Vorlage:Sfn The new arrangement was awkward, and required considerable adjustment before it functioned properly. In September 1943, Marshall was replaced by Brigadier General James L. Frink.Vorlage:Sfn

The New Guinea Advanced Base was formed in Port Moresby in August 1942, and sub bases were created at Milne Bay and Oro Bay. These became Advanced Sub Base A and Advanced Sub Base B respectively in April 1943. Advanced Sub Base C was created on Goodenough Island in April 1943, but was discontinued when the island was handed over to Sixth Army control in July. Meanwhile, Advanced Sub Base D was formed at Port Moresby in May. The sub bases became bases in August 1943. Advanced Base E was formed at Lae and Advanced Base F at Finschhafen in November 1943,Vorlage:Sfn followed by Bases G and H at Hollandia and Biak respectively.Vorlage:Sfn

As the Allied forces advanced, new bases were formed, and the old ones in Australia were closed. Base Sections 5 and 6 were closed in January 1943, and Base Section 4 in June 1944. The remaining four became bases, and a Base Section was formed in Brisbane to control them. Bases 1 and 3 were closed in December 1944, leaving only Bases 2 and 7.Vorlage:Sfn These were deactivated in June 1945 and their functions absorbed by the Australia Base Section, as the Base Section had been renamed in February 1945. In New Guinea, Base D was closed in July 1945, and Bases A, B and E in September, leaving Bases F, G and H.Vorlage:Sfn Meanwhile, a series of bases were opened in the Philippines: Base K on Leyte, Base M on Luzon, Base R at Batangas, Base S on Cebu and base X at Manila. These came under the Luzon Base Section, which was redesignated the Philippine on 1 April 1945. Vorlage:Sfn On 7 June 1945, USASOS became Army Forces, Western Pacific (AFWESPAC), under the command of Lieutenant General Wilhelm D. Styer, and it absorbed USAFFE.Vorlage:Sfn

Allied Land Forces

The Australian Army's Commander in Chief, General Sir Thomas Blamey, was appointed Commander, Allied Land Forces, SWPA. Its headquarters was that of the existing General Headquarters (Australia), and became known as LHQ. An Australian commander made sense as most of the land forces were Australian. In April 1942, there were 38,000 American ground troops in SWPA and 369,000 Australian. LHQ controlled five major commands: Lieutenant General Sir John Lavarack's First Army, based in Queensland; Lieutenant General Sir Iven Mackay's Second Army in Victoria; Lieutenant General Gordon Bennett's III Corps in Western Australia; the Northern Territory Force under Major General Edmund Herring; and New Guinea Force under Major General Basil Morris. Between them they controlled ten Australian and two American divisions.Vorlage:Sfn By August 1944, the Australian Army had a strength of 463,000 men and women, while there were 173,000 American ground Army personnel in SWPA.Vorlage:Sfn By late 1944, however, there were eighteen American divisions in SWPA,Vorlage:Sfn while the Australian Army had just seven.Vorlage:Sfn

When GHQ moved up to Brisbane, LHQ remained behind in Melbourne, but Blamey formed an Advanced LHQ under his Deputy Chief of the General Staff (DCGS), Major General George Vasey, which moved to nearby St Lucia.Vorlage:SfnVorlage:Sfn Major General Frank Berryman replaced Vasey as DCGS in September 1942, and remained in the post until January 1944. He resumed the post in July 1944 and remained until December 1945. When GHQ moved to Hollandia, Advanced LHQ followed, opening there on 15 December, but when GHQ moved to Leyte in February 1945, Advanced LHQ remained behind. A Forward Echelon LHQ was formed under Berryman that remained co-located with GHQ, while the main body of LHQ remained at Hollandia until it moved to Morotai for the operations in Borneo in April 1945.Vorlage:Sfn

In practice, MacArthur preferred to control over land operations through "task forces".Vorlage:Sfn These reported directly to GHQ, and their commanders could control all Allied land, air, naval and service forces in their area if a Japanese land attack was imminent.Vorlage:Sfn The most important of these were New Guinea Force, which was formed in 1942, which was commanded personally by Blamey in September 1942,Vorlage:Sfn and again in September 1943.Vorlage:Sfn In February 1943, Lieutenant General Walter Krueger's Sixth Army arrived in SWPA, and its headquarters became that of Alamo Force. Since Alamo Force reported directly to MacArthur, the result was that Blamey did not command of the majority of American land forces in the theatre after that time, although his post was not abolished.Vorlage:SfnVorlage:Sfn

In March 1944, MacArthur met with Curtin and detailed his plans for the Western New Guinea campaign, explaining that he would assume direct command of land forces when he reached the Philippines, and suggesting that Blamey could either go with him as an army commander, or remain in Australia as Commander in Chief.Vorlage:Sfn The new organisation went into effect in September 1944, with Lieutenant General Walter Krueger's Sixth United States Army, Lieutenant General Robert Eichelberger's Eighth United States Army, Lieutenant General Vernon Sturdee's First Australian Army, Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead's I Australian Corps and Major General Oscar Griswold's XIV Corps reporting directly to GHQ. Allied Land Forces remained as an important administrative and logistical command.Vorlage:Sfn

Allied Naval Forces

Allied naval forces commander SWPA, Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid (center left) with MacArthur (center) on February 28, 1944 on USS Phoenix during the bomardment of Los Negros Island, at the commencement of the Admiralty Islands campaign.

Vice Admiral Herbert F. Leary, was appointed Commander, Allied Naval Forces. Leary was succeeded by Vice Admiral Arthur S. Carpender, who also became commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet when it was formed on March 15, 1943. They were junior in rank to both the Australian Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Admiral Sir Guy Royle, and the Dutch naval commander, Vice Admiral Conrad Emil Lambert Helfrich. However, Royle agreed to serve under the Allied Naval Forces as commander of the Southwest Pacific Sea Frontier (Australian coastal waters). MacArthur was not the superior of his U.S. Navy commanders—they were answerable to Admiral Ernest King, the Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, and MacArthur was embarrassed when the Navy Department replaced Carpender with Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid without informing him or consulting the Australian government.

In early 1944, MacArthur declined a suggestion, from Australian leaders, that the Australian I Corps be used in the forthcoming campaign to re-take the Philippines, in its own area of responsibility. MacArthur suggested instead that one Australian division be used, but this was not accepted.

In September 1944, MacArthur discarded the task force concept for the land forces, and assumed direct control of the U.S. Sixth Army, U.S. Eighth Army, Australian First Army, Australian I Corps and U.S. XIV Corps.

Allied Air Forces

Royal Australian Air Force chief, Air Vice Marshal George Jones (left) meeting the Allied air forces commander in the SWPA, Lieutenant General George Kenney (right) in mid-1945, in Manila.

Lieutenant General George Kenney commanded the Allied Air Forces. Initially, he combined this with command of the U.S. Fifth Air Force. When the U.S. Thirteenth Air Force was transferred from the South Pacific Area in 1944, he created the U.S. Far East Air Force to control them both. Kenney consolidated Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) units under his command into the RAAF Command under Air Vice Marshal William Bostock. The RAAF Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal George Jones, was outside Kenney's command. A controversy erupted in May 1943 when Jones removed all RAAF air transport units from Kenney's control. An appeal from MacArthur to Prime Minister Curtin failed to get them back and the result was that Jones, Royle and Blamey were ordered to provide GHQ with detailed lists of units assigned to SWPA, which in the case of the land forces, had often been ambiguous.

Forces from the SWPA were to have made up a significant proportion of the Allied units set aside for the proposed invasion of Japan, scheduled to take place from November 1945.

Notes

Footnotes

Citations

References

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