British Far East Command 1032969 222014420 2008-06-27T04:01:56Z Dave1185 6536358 Reverted [[WP:AGF|good faith]] edits by [[Special:Contributions/Dave1185|Dave1185]]; My bad, Seletar was the HQ before WW2 but Changi became the HQ after WW2. Corrections!. ([[WP:TW|TW]]) The '''Far East Command''' was a British military [[Command (military formation)|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|ANZUK Force]]) == 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 (island)|Java]] and assumed control of Allied operations. ===Commanders=== {| border="6" |'''Command''' |'''Head Quarters''' |'''Rank''' |'''Name''' |'''Appointed''' |- |Far East Command |The Naval Base, Singapore |Commander-in-Chief | {| border="1" |- |[[Air Chief Marshal]] [[Robert Brooke-Popham|R. Brooke-Popham]] |- |Lieutenant-General Sir [[Henry Royds Pownall|H. R. Pownall]] |} | {| border="1" |- |[[November 18]] [[1940]] |- |[[December 23]], [[1941]] |} |- |[[Far East Air Force (Royal Air Force)]] |Seletar Field, Singapore |Air Officer Commanding | {| border="1" |Air Vice Marshal [[John Tremayne Babington| J.T. Babington]] |- |Air Vice Marshal [[Conway Walter Heath Pulford|C.W.H. Pulford]] |- |Air Vice Marshal [[Paul Copeland Maltby|P.C. Maltby]] |} | {| border="1" |[[August 12]] [[1938]] |- |[[May 6]] [[1941]] |- |[[February 11]] [[1942]] — ([[February 14]] [[1942]]) |} | |- |[[Burma Command]] |Rangoon, Burma |General Officer Commanding | {| |Major General [[Donald Kenneth McLeod| D.K. McLeod]] |- |Lieutenant General [[Thomas Jacomb Hutton|T.J. Hutton]] |} | {| |1939 |- |[[December 29]] [[1941]] |} |- |[[Malaya Command]] |Army HQ, Singapore |General Officer Commanding |Lieutenant General [[Arthur Ernest Percival|A.E. Percival]] |May 1941 |- |[[Hong Kong Garrison]] |Hong Kong |General Officer Commanding |Major General [[Christopher Michael Maltby|C.M. Maltby]] | |} ==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 (shore station)|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''). ===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: * [[1963]] [[April 10]] Lieutenant General Sir [[Reginald Hackett Hewetson]] 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 Hunt (British Army officer)|Peter Mervyn Hunt]] * [[1970]] [[October 10]] – [[1971]] [[October 30]] Major General [[Walter Babington Thomas|Walter Babington (Sandy) Thomas]] :''See reference [http://www.regiments.org/formations/uk-cmdarmy/os-fare.htm www.regiments.org Far East Command]'' ==See also== * [[RAF Far East Air Force]] ==External links == * [http://www.fepow-community.org.uk/arthur_lane/Percivals_Report/html/assumption_of_command_in_malay.htm Percivals Report on assumption of command in Malay] * http://www.fact-index.com/r/ra/raf_far_east_air_force.html * http://www.rothwell.force9.co.uk/burmaweb/BurmaArmy.htm [[Category:British rule in Singapore]] [[Category:Military of Singapore under British rule]] [[Category:British Malaya]] [[Category:Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in World War II]]