South-East Asia Command
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South East Asia Command (SEAC) was the body set up to be in overall charge of Allied operations in the
South-East Asian Theatre The South-East Asian Theatre of World War II consisted of the campaigns of the Pacific War in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Indochina, Burma, India, Malaya, and Singapore between 1941 and 1945. Japan attacked British and American ter ...
during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


History


Organisation

The initial supreme commander of the theatre was
General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
Sir Archibald Wavell while head of the short-lived
American-British-Dutch-Australian Command The American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command, or ABDACOM, was the short-lived supreme command for all Allied forces in South East Asia in early 1942, during the Pacific War in World War II. The command consisted of the forces of Austra ...
(ABDACOM) which was dissolved after the
fall of Singapore The fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore, took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of Japan captured the British stronghold of Singapore, with fighting lasting from 8 to 15 February 1942. S ...
and the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
. On 30 March 1942 the Joint Chiefs of Staff issued instructions naming General
Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...
as commander-in-chief of the
South West 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 War. SWPA included the Philippines, Borneo, the ...
, which was made responsible for the water areas of the South China Sea, Borneo, and Java. In August 1943, the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...
created the combined South East Asian Command, to assume overall command of air, sea and land operations in the theatre. In August 1943, with the agreement of the
Combined Chiefs of Staff The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) was the supreme military staff for the United States and Britain during World War II. It set all the major policy decisions for the two nations, subject to the approvals of British Prime Minister Winston Churchi ...
,
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
appointed
Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...
Lord Louis Mountbatten Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), commonly known as Lord Mountbatten, was a British statesman, Royal Navy off ...
as Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia. US Army
General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
Joseph Stilwell Joseph Warren "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell (19 March 1883 – 12 October 1946) was a United States Army general who served in the China Burma India theater during World War II. Stilwell was appointed as Chief of Staff for Chiang Kai-shek, the Chine ...
was appointed deputy supreme commander. Stilwell was also, officially, deputy to Chiang Kai Shek, as Allied commander in China, and commanded all US forces across both theatres (which were known in the US as the China Burma India (CBI) Theater). Meanwhile the British Army commander in India, Auchinleck as
Commander-in-Chief, India During the period of the Company and Crown rule in India, the Commander-in-Chief, India (often "Commander-in-Chief ''in'' or ''of'' India") was the supreme commander of the Indian Army from 1833 to 1947. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his ...
, provided vital base support. Mountbatten arrived in India on 7 October and SEAC came formally into being in Delhi at midnight on 15/16 November. SEAC headquarters moved in April 1944 to
Kandy Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...
in
Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
.


General strategy

From the outset, Western Allied forces available for the wider war against Japan were limited – by an overall Allied commitment towards defeating
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
, before the
Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...
. This was especially the case for the UK, and major advances were not anticipated in Asia until mid-late 1944 at least – that is, not until the defeat of Germany had become inevitable. A strategic focus by the Western Allies on the Central Pacific (i.e. the "Pacific Ocean Areas" in contemporaneous Allied terminology) and the
South-West Pacific Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...
, resulted from compromises reached at the
Casablanca Conference The Casablanca Conference (codenamed SYMBOL) or Anfa Conference was held in Casablanca, French Morocco, from January 14 to 24, 1943, to plan the Allies of World War II, Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II. The main disc ...
. UK participants were focused on Nazi Germany, and saw the war against Japan being limited "to the defense of a fixed line in front of those positions that must be held". However, because such an approach was unacceptable to the United States, it was agreed that there would be offensive actions in Burma, operations in support of China, and other activity beyond holding a defensive line in South East Asia, as a result of US demands that the Japanese be kept off-balance, throughout any areas in which they might encounter Allied forces. Nevertheless, for the Western Allies, the South East Asia theatre,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, and the
North Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
(including Alaska), were destined to become secondary theatres, relative to efforts in the Pacific Ocean Areas, in which the supreme commander was US Admiral
Chester Nimitz Chester William Nimitz (; 24 February 1885 – 20 February 1966) was a Fleet admiral (United States), fleet admiral in the United States Navy. He played a major role in the naval history of World War II as Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Co ...
. Some saw SEAC as an organization for recapturing colonial possessions. The British also sometimes appeared to be more interested in liberating their own Asian possessions than the Americans did. This led Washington to try to distance itself from SEAC politically. On 2 December 1943, the
Combined Chiefs of Staff The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) was the supreme military staff for the United States and Britain during World War II. It set all the major policy decisions for the two nations, subject to the approvals of British Prime Minister Winston Churchi ...
officially approved in principle a plan designating the Pacific Ocean Areas as the focus of the main effort against Japan. Their reasoning was that advances in the Central Pacific were the most rapid route towards sustained, direct attacks on the Japanese Home Islands – e.g. subjecting
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
and other major cities to attacks by strategic bombers. A secondary line of advance – by US and Australian forces – "along the New Guinea- N.E.I.-Philippine axis", was to be controlled by the separate
South West 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 War. SWPA included the Philippines, Borneo, the ...
command under
Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...
(US Army).


Description

The initial land forces operational area for SEAC was
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...
,
Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
,
Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...
, northern islands of
Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...
, and, for offensive operations,
Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
(Thailand). On 15 August 1945 (VJ-Day) this was expanded to include the rest parts of
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
and southern part of
French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...
. Command arrangements in SEAC were always complicated. Ideally there should have been under the Supreme Commander a Commander in Chief for each of the land sea and air forces. This was implemented for the naval and air forces (including the establishment of Air Command, South East Asia) but the British
11th Army Group The 11th Army Group was the main British Army force in Southeast Asia during the Second World War. Although a nominally British formation, it also included large numbers of troops and formations from the British Indian Army and from British Africa ...
, under SEAC itself, controlled only British land forces. US and Chinese forces serving in the South East Asian theatre, organised as the
Northern Combat Area Command The Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) was a subcommand of the Allies of World War II, Allied South East Asia Command (SEAC) during World War II. It controlled Allied ground operations in northern Burma. For most of its existence, NCAC was com ...
or NCAC commanded by Stilwell, answered directly to the Supreme Commander because Stilwell refused to serve under the 11th Army Group commander
George Giffard General Sir George James Giffard, (27 September 1886 – 17 November 1964) was a British military officer, who had a distinguished career in command of African troops in the First World War, rising to command an Army Group in South East Asia in ...
. The Eleventh Army Group had the Fourteenth Army on the Burma front, and the British garrison in Ceylon under its direct command. Stilwell also served as Chief of Staff to Chiang Kai-shek, who was officially the Supreme Allied Commander in China. Air Chief Marshal Sir
Richard Peirse Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Edmund Charles Peirse, (30 September 1892 – 5 August 1970), served as a senior Royal Air Force commander. RAF career The son of Admiral Sir Richard Peirse and his wife Blanche Melville Wemyss-Whittaker, Richard ...
was appointed the Air Commander in Chief under Mountbatten. Air units taking part in the Burma Campaign were, at first, part of either the
RAF Third Tactical Air Force The Third Tactical Air Force (Third TAF), which was formed in South Asia in December 1943, was one of three tactical air forces formed by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the R ...
or the
USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
Tenth Air Force The Tenth Air Force (10 AF) is a unit of the U.S. Air Force, specifically a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). 10 AF is headquartered at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base/Carswell Field (formerly Carswel ...
. Tenth Air Force came under SEAC only through Stilwell as commanding General CBI Theater. To avoid a potentially cumbersome
chain of command A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. Military chain of command In a military context, the chain of command is the line of authority and responsibility along which orders ...
and overlapping effort Mountbatten gave orders in December for the two air forces to be integrated under the name Eastern Air Command. The US
Fourteenth Air Force The Fourteenth Air Force (14 AF; Air Forces Strategic) was a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). It was headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The command was responsible for the organizatio ...
, which was based in China and the US
Twentieth Air Force The Twentieth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) (20th AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. 20 AF's primary mission is Intercon ...
– strategic bomber units based in India – were never controlled by SEAC but their operations were coordinated with SEAC. At sea, the command structure was relatively simple, since the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
was providing almost all naval forces in the area. Admiral Sir
James Somerville Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Fownes Somerville (17 July 1882 – 19 March 1949) was a Royal Navy admiral of the fleet. He served in the First World War as fleet wireless officer for the Mediterranean Fleet where he was involved in providing ...
, Commander-in-Chief,
Eastern Fleet Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...
, became the naval commander under Mountbatten. It was not until late 1944 that the land forces chain of command was clarified, after Stilwell was recalled to Washington. His overall role, and the CBI command were then split among three people: Lt Gen. Raymond Wheeler became Deputy Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia; Maj. Gen.
Albert Wedemeyer Albert Coady Wedemeyer (9 July 1896 – 19 December 1989) was a United States Army general who served in Asia during World War II from October 1943 to the end of the war in 1945. Previously, he was an important member of the War Planning Board ...
became Chief of Staff to Chiang, and commander of US Forces, China Theater (USFCT). Lt Gen. Daniel Sultan was promoted, from deputy commander of CBI to commander of US Forces, India-Burma Theater (USFIBT) and commander of the NCAC. The 11th Army Group was redesignated
Allied Land Forces South East Asia The 11th Army Group was the main British Army force in Southeast Asia during the Second World War. Although a nominally British formation, it also included large numbers of troops and formations from the British Indian Army and from British Africa ...
(ALFSEA) under a new commander Lieutenant-General
Oliver Leese Lieutenant General Sir Oliver William Hargreaves Leese, 3rd Baronet, (27 October 1894 – 22 January 1978) was a senior British Army officer who saw distinguished active service during both the world wars. He commanded XXX Corps in North Afric ...
who had relinquished command of the Eighth Army in Italy, and NCAC (which by this time included Chinese, American and British units) was placed under ALFSEA. As the drive to liberate Burma began in earnest however, Chiang Kai-shek and Wedemeyer made increasing demands for NCAC's formations to be moved to the China Theatre to meet the threat of Japanese attacks from the north. Once the
Burma Road The Burma Road () was a road linking Burma (now known as Myanmar) with southwest China. Its terminals were Lashio, Burma, in the south and Kunming, China, the capital of Yunnan province in the north. It was built in 1937–1938 while Burm ...
from Mandalay to Chungking was secured NCAC became passive and in March 1945 Mountbatten agreed to the US and Chinese troops in NCAC being gradually withdrawn to the China. RAF aircraft destined for SEAC had the word "SNAKE" applied after the serial during ferrying to prevent them being appropriated by other commands along the route. In February 1945 Air Marshal
Keith Park Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park, (15 June 1892 – 6 February 1975) was a New Zealand-born officer of the Royal Air Force (RAF). During the Second World War, his leadership of the RAF's No. 11 Group RAF, No. 11 Group was pivotal to t ...
was appointed Allied Air Commander of South-East Asia Command EACwhere he served until the end of the war. Once most of Burma was re-captured by Fourteenth Army, the command turned its attention towards its next major operational objective: Malaya. However, the use of atomic bombs on the Japanese mainland brought the war to an abrupt end.


Post–war

The borders of SEAC were adjusted in the aftermath of the war, and its emphasis shifted from combat operations to military government. French Indochina was added, along with
Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
– most of which had already been captured by Australian forces, under the South West Pacific Command – and
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
. The command became responsible for over 128 million people, with at least 120,000 of them still under Japanese custody. This added immensely to its problems. At the same time, Western governments expected SEAC to re-establish colonial regimes in territories lost to Japan in 1941–45 where nationalist, anti-colonial forces had gained strength. After Japan's surrender, Lt. General
Itagaki Seishiro is a Japanese surname. People with the name *, Japanese ski jumper *, Japanese manga artist *, Japanese actor, fashion model, and singer *, one of the Twenty-four Generals of Takeda Shingen during the Sengoku period *, Japanese manga artist *, Ja ...
, who commanded the
Japanese Seventh Area Army The was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army formed during final stages of the Pacific War and based in Japanese-occupied Malaya, Singapore and Borneo, Java, and Sumatra. History The Japanese 7th Area Army was formed on March 19, 1944 ...
in Southeast Asia, were sent to Tokyo to stand trial for war crime. His soldiers who guarded the Jurong and Changi prisons in Singapore became captives of their former Allied prisoners. The British soon put these captives to work filling bomb craters, cleaning toilets, and cutting grass. They marched to their work sites each morning and back to their prisons at night. There were bouts of violence targeting former Japanese soldiers, but there were also offers of help to those Japanese civilians that were still waiting to be repatriated. Food shortages were everywhere. Requisitions by the Japanese military during the war had encouraged the hoarding but discouraged the growing of rice. Migrations to urban areas, where rations were rumored to be more available, worsened the situation. In Kuala Lumpur, Pahang, Kelantan, Trengganu, and Singapore, over 20 per cent of children were undersized or malnourished for their age. The British tried to bring in as much food as they could, but the system of rationing soon broke down. Prices soared, and a black market for British military ration flourished. Rising inflation was made worse after the British demonetized the Japanese occupation currency. A wave of strikes swept Singapore, led by Communist leaning labour unions and hundreds of thousands their members.
British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire The B ...
troops were landed in the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
(Indonesia) and
French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...
to facilitate the return of forces from the pre-war colonial powers. The formation deployed to the East Indies was the Indian XV Corps under command of Lieutenant General Sir Philip Christison, which included
5th Indian Infantry Division The 5th Infantry Division is an infantry division of the Indian Army. It was raised during the Second World War and fought in several theatres of war and was nicknamed the "Ball of Fire". It was one of the few Allied divisions to fight again ...
,
23rd Indian Infantry Division The 23rd Infantry Division is an infantry Division (military), division of the Indian Army. It was raised as a part of the Indian Army during World War II. It fought in the Burma Campaign. History The division was raised on 1 January 1942, at J ...
and
5th Parachute Brigade The 5th Parachute Brigade was an airborne forces formation of brigade strength, raised by the British Army during the Second World War. Created during 1943, the brigade was assigned to the 6th Airborne Division, serving alongside the 3rd Parachut ...
.Graham Watson
Allied Land Forces South East Asia 1945
, Orbat.com, accessed November 2008
Military government was soon established in Burma, Malaya, Singapore and
British Borneo British Borneo comprised the four northern parts of the island of Borneo, which are now the country of Brunei, two Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, and the Malaysian federal territory of Labuan. During the British colonial rule before Wor ...
.
Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...
and Sumatra did not prove to be major headaches for the British, except that one Japanese unit in Borneo refused to surrender until November 1945. Thailand, although it had officially been an ally of Japan, quickly resumed both its independence and its ties with the western powers. Because of shortages of personnel, some use was made of
Japanese Surrendered Personnel Japanese Surrendered Personnel (JSP) was a designation for Japanese prisoners of war developed by the government of Japan in 1945 after the end of World War II in Asia. It stipulated that Japanese prisoners of war in Allied custody would be de ...
(JSP) in these areas. The Allies found that their war-time allies in the
Viet Minh The Việt Minh (, ) is the common and abbreviated name of the League for Independence of Vietnam ( or , ; ), which was a Communist Party of Vietnam, communist-led national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1 ...
in Indochina, and Indonesian nationalist forces in the East Indies, were well armed, well-organised and determined. It was intended that British forces would temporarily enforce military government over a small section of Indochina, because of local resistance, logistics and French sensibilities. However, in the end the commander of British forces declared ''de facto'' military government, to make it possible for French forces to return.


Indonesian National Revolution, 1945–46

Aided by armed militias formed by the Japanese during the occupation, Indonesian nationalists in Java declared the Dutch East Indies a republic, and independent from the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. The British intended that the Dutch colonial administration should return, and assisted a small military contingent, the
Netherlands Indies Civil Administration The Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (, NICA) was a semi-military organisation, established in April 1944, tasked with the restoration of civil administration and law of Dutch colonial rule after the capitulation of the Japanese occupation ...
(NICA). However they initially avoided significant conflict with the nationalists. It was only possible for British forces to establish military government in parts of Indonesia, and they found that the location of Allied prisoners of war – and civilians interned by Japanese forces – were sometimes used by nationalists in bargaining for political ends. British troops found themselves in increasing conflict with the nationalists. The nationalists attacked JSP garrisons awaiting repatriation, to seize their arms. A British Brigadier, A. W. S. Mallaby, was killed, as he pushed for the nationalists to surrender their weapons. As a result, on 10 November 1945, Surabaya was attacked by British forces, leading to the bloody
Battle of Surabaya The Battle of Surabaya () was a major battle in the Indonesian National Revolution fought between regular infantry and militia of the Indonesian nationalist movement and British and British Indian Army, British Indian troops against the re-imp ...
. The city was secured later that month. The battle for Surabaya was the bloodiest single engagement of the
Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution (), also known as the Indonesian War of Independence (, ), was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during A ...
(1945–49). However, the British were reluctant to devote their scarce resources to a defence of Dutch interests, and withdrew from Indonesia.


Disbandment

As 1946 drew on, under its second and final commander, Lieutenant-General
Montagu Stopford General Sir Montagu George North Stopford, (16 November 1892 – 10 March 1971) was a senior British Army Officer (armed forces), officer who fought during both the First World War, First and Second World Wars. The latter he served in with dist ...
(June to November 1946), SEAC discharged its final tasks and was disbanded. It was no longer felt that a joint command was needed in the area.


See also

* Radio SEAC


References


Sources

* * * *


Further reading

*
Jon Latimer Jonathan David Latimer (1964 – 4 January 2009) was a historian and writer based in Wales. His books include ''Operation Compass 1940'' (Osprey, 2000), ''Tobruk 1941'' (Osprey, 2001), ''Deception in War'' (John Murray, 2001), ''Alamein'' (Jo ...
, ''Burma: The Forgotten War'', London: John Murray, 2004. * Peter Dennis, Troubled days of peace : Mountbatten and South East Asia command, 1945–46, Manchester : Manchester University Press, 1987, . {{Authority control Allied commands of World War II Military of Singapore under British rule Military of British Ceylon History of Kandy Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946 Military history of Malaya during World War II Military history of Ceylon in World War II Lord Mountbatten