The American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command, code name ABDACOM, was a short-lived, unified command for all Allied forces in South East Asia, during the Pacific War. The command, led by General Sir Archibald Wavell, was also known in British military circles as the "South West Pacific Command", although it should not be confused with the later formation led by General Douglas MacArthur. Efforts to organise the ABDA Command began soon after war between the Allies and Japan commenced, on December 7, 1941
ABDACOM Area
Soon after the Declaration by the United Nations on January 1, 1942, the Allied governments appointed Wavell, as supreme commander of ABDA forces. Wavell had previously been British Commander-in-Chief India. The formation of ABDACOM mean that Wavell had nominal control of a huge, but thinly-spread force, covering an area from Burma in the west to Dutch New Guinea and Australia (see map) was added to the ABDA area. The rest of Australia was under Australian control, as was the Australian territory of New Guinea.
Wavell resigned as supreme commander on the February 25, 1942 handing control of the ABDA Area to local commanders. He also recommended the establishment of two Allied commands to replace ABDACOM: a south west Pacific command, and one based in India. In anticipation of this, Wavell had handed control of Burma to the British India Command and reassumed his previous position, as Commander-in-Chief India.
Following the destruction of the main ABDA naval force under Rear-Admiral Karel Doorman, at the Battle of the Java Sea, in February-March 1942, ABDA effectively ceased to exist.
Although ABDACOM was only in existence for several weeks and it presided over one defeat after another, it paved the way for more successful combined Allied commands, such as SHAEF in Europe.
(General MacArthur, commanding the Philippine Army and US forces in the Philippines was technically subordinate to Wavell, but — in reality — operated independently of ABDA.)
British War office report on: OPERATIONS IN BURMA FROM 15th DECEMBER 1941 to 20th MAY 1942 (http://www.fepow-community.org.uk/Research/London_Gazette/Burma_Dec_1941_to_May_1942/index.htm)
ABDACOM was also known in British military circles as the "South West Pacific Command", although it should not be confused with the later South West Pacific Area command (see below).
Although ABDACOM was only in existence for a few weeks, and it presided over one defeat after another, it did provide some useful lessons for combined Allied commands later in the war.
The formation of ABDACOM meant that Wavell had nominal control of a huge, but thinly-spread force, covering an area from Burma in the west, to Dutch New Guinea and the Philippines in the east.
ABDACOM boundaries enclosed an enormous expanse of land and water: Burma, Malaya, Okinawa, Formosa, the Philippines, the Netherlands East Indies, New Guinea, the Solomons, New Hebrides, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand Tasmania, and the northern coast of Australia.
ABDACOM gave the Allies a valuable experience in coalition warfare that would apply not only in the Pacific but to other theaters as well.
In establishing ABDACOM, British and American political and military leaders presumed to speak for Australia, the Netherlands, and Nationalist China, although none of the three had attended planning sessions and the last was not expected to contribute forces.
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