British Far East Command
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The Far East Command was a British military command which had 2 distinct periods.
- November 18, 1940 – January 7, 1942 succeeded by the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM)
- 1963 – 1971 succeeded by Australia, New Zealand, and United Kingdom Force (ANZUK Force)
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[edit] 1940–1942
At the start of World War II, the British had two commands with responsibilities for possessions in the Far East. British India Command under General Sir Archibald Wavell the Commander-in-Chief (CinC) of the Army of India and the Far East Command under Air Marshal Robert Brooke-Popham and from December 23, 1941 by Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Royds Pownall.
The CinC Far East Command was responsible directly to the Chiefs of Staff for the operational control and general direction of training of all British land and air forces in Malaya, Burma, and Hong Kong, and for the co-ordination of plans for the defence of those territories. But the CinC exercised no command or control over any naval forces.
It was intended that CinC should deal primarily with matters of major military policy and strategy, but it was not the intention that the CinC should assume any administrative or financial responsibilities or take over any of the day-to-day functions at that time exercised by the General (or Air) Officers Commanding (GOC) of the different areas. The degree of "operational control" of British land and air forces, which the Commander-in-Chief Far East should assume, was defined as meaning "the higher direction and control" as distinct from "detailed operational control". To complicate matters, the GOCs correspond with the War Office, Air Ministry, Colonial Office and Local Governor's Offices on all matters on which they had previously dealt with those departments. But the GOCs had to keep the CinC informed if he wished.
To enable the Commander-in-Chief Far East to carry out his Functions, he was allowed a small staff, initially consisting of seven officers drawn from all three Services with the necessary clerical and cipher staff. For intelligence purposes, he had at his disposal the Far East Combined Intelligence Bureau, though it remained under Admiralty control. Although the establishment of his staff was later increased to fifteen it was never large enough. The Naval Base was a considerable distance across Singapore from the Malaya Army Headquarters which discouraged frequent meetings.
On the December 5, 1941 London given permission for CinC Far East Command to decide if Operation Matador should be activated. The chief strategic decision to be decided was whether Siam should be invaded in a pre-emptive move, before any Japanese landings took place. The Malaya Command was responsible for the planning of Operation Matador. On December 6, 1941, it had reworked the plan and allocated forces for immediate deployment. This is what GOC Malaya Arthur Percival recommended that evening in a meeting with the Governor Sir Shenton Thomas and CinC Brooke-Popham, who decided it was premature to launch the operation which included the pre-emptive move into Siam.
When the Allied governments appointed General Sir Archibald Wavell as supreme commander of American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM), British Far East Command became redundant because its functions would in future be carried out by ABDACOM. So when Wavell arrived in Singapore, where the British Far East Command was based, on January 7, 1942. ABDACOM absorbed the British command in its entirety and CinC Far East Command Henry Royds Pownall became Wavell's Chief of Staff. On January 15, Wavell moved his headquarters to Bandung in Java and assumed control of Allied operations.
[edit] Commanders
| Command | Head Quarters | Rank | Name | Appointed | |||||||
| Far East Command | The Naval Base, Singapore | Commander-in-Chief |
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| Far East Air Force (Royal Air Force) | Seletar Field, Singapore | Air Officer Commanding |
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| Burma Command | Rangoon, Burma | General Officer Commanding |
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| Malaya Command | Army HQ, Singapore | General Officer Commanding | Lieutenant General A.E. Percival | May 1941 | |||||||
| Hong Kong Garrison | Hong Kong | General Officer Commanding | Major General C.M. Maltby |
[edit] 1963–1971
1963 Far East Command was established, covering the region covered China, Hong Kong, Kobe and Singapore. Major bases included Hong Kong (HMS Tamar) and Singapore. It was organised as an interservice command:
- Far East Land Forces [British]
- Australian Army Force
- Additional air and naval elements
January 11, 1971 disbanded at Singapore (succeeded by ANZUK Force).
[edit] Commanders
British Commander-in-Chief, Far East Command:
- 1963 April 24 Admiral Sir Varyl Begg
- 1965 Air Vice Marshal Sir John Grandy
- 1967 February 1 General Sir Richard Michael Power Carver
- 1969 March 7 Admiral Sir Peter John Hill-Norton
British General Officer Commander-in-Chief, Far East Land Forces:
Commander, British Far East Land Forces:
- 1964 June 8 Lieutenant General Sir Alan Jolly
- 1966 July 28 Lieutenant General Sir Richard Michael Power Carver
- 1967 January 31 Lieutenant GeneralSir Thomas Cecil Hook Pearson
- 1968 November 16 Lieutenant General Sir Peter Mervyn Hunt
- 1970 October 10 – 1971 October 30 Major General Walter Babington (Sandy) Thomas
- See reference www.regiments.org Far East Command
