Beschreibung:

MACARTHUR, Douglas (1880-1964). General . Typed document signed ("Douglas Mac Arthur"), his General Orders Number 1 designating command structure for Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific, Melbourne, 18 April 1942. 1 page, 4to , WITH ORIGINAL COVER SHEET SIGNED ("Douglas Mac Arthur"), very fine. "THE UNDERSIGNED HEREBY ASSUMES COMMAND": MACARTHUR BECOMES ALLIED COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC A communication of considerable importance by which General Douglas MacArthur accepts command of the Southwest Pacific and sets up the Allied command structure in that theater. After the Japanese attack upon Pearl Harbor and subsequent incursions of the Japanese military, the southwest Pacific was particularly vulnerable and it appeared that an invasion of Australia was imminent. Having vowed "I shall return" when he was ordered to leave the Philippines, MacArthur was named Allied Commander-in-Chief in April 1942 and here, in his first order as commander, organizes his command: "1. By agreement among the Governments of Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States there has been constituted, effective 1400 GMT, 18 April, 1942, the Southwest Pacific Area, with the boundaries as defined in Annex 1. 2. By virtue of the same authority, the undersigned hereby assumes command." The specifics of the command structure are thus established: "3. The following commands are hereby created with commanders as indicated, composed of forces assigned to the Southwest Pacific Area by the respective Governments, and assigned to specific commands by this headquarters." The commanders designated by these orders include: General Sir Thomas Blamey, Australian Army (Allied Land Forces); Lieutenant General George H. Brett, U. S. Army (Allied Air Forces); Vice Admiral Herbert F. Leary, U.S.N. (Allied Naval Forces); Lieutenant General Jonathan M. Wainwright, U.S. Army (U. S. Forces in the Phillipines); Major General Julian F. Barnes, U.S. Army (Army Forces in Australia). Less than a month after MacArthur's orders were issued, the pace of the Japanese onslaught was slowed at the Battle of the Coral Sea, a strategic victory even though the smaller American fleet suffered greater losses (including the aircraft carrier Lexington ). The Japanese fleet turned north, abandoning operations against Australia. Initially, MacArthur had only a modest force at his command, which offered little hope of winning back the islands to the north. But, as American strength grew in the Pacific and the tide of battle decisively turned at Midway, MacArthur's forces began offensive operations with amphibious landings at Guadalcanal in August 1942.