Map Description

History Map of WWII: The Far East and the Pacific December 1941


Illustrating:

Major Allied Forces and Positions

(Air Forces were under Army or Navy Command in most areas shown.)


:: Allied commands at the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941 ::

Location Forces Commander Level / Strength Notes
Chungking China Nationalist Forces Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek XXXX
(~2 million troops, scattered)
Supreme Commander China Theater
Chungking American Volunteer Group (AVG) Col Claire Chennault (04/42) XX
(~70 P-40 fighters)
Not full US Army yet (mercenary air group)
Hong Kong British Garrison Maj Gen Christopher Maltby XXX
(~14,000 troops)
Mixed British-Canadian-Indian forces
India British India Command Gen Sir Archibald Wavell XXXX
(~300,000 troops)
Theater command, soon to lead ABDA
Philippine Islands USAFFE (U.S. Army Forces Far East) Gen Douglas MacArthur XXXX
(~120,000 troops incl. Philippine Army)
Top US ground commander in Philippines
Philippine Islands U.S. Asiatic Fleet Adm Thomas C. Hart XXXX
(~60 ships incl. 29 submarines)
USN naval forces, based mainly around Manila
Singapore British Far East Command Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham XXXX
(~90,000 troops in Malaya)
Theater command but with limited operational control
Singapore Force Z (British Naval Detachment) Adm Sir Tom Phillips HMS Prince of Wales/HMS Repulse
(2 capital ships + 4 destroyers)
Battleship group; no full fleet structure yet
Batavia (Java) Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) Lt Gen Hein ter Poorten XXX/XXXX
(~85,000 troops incl. militia)
Dutch ground forces in NEI
Batavia (Java) Royal Netherlands Navy East Indies Fleet Vice Adm Conrad Helfrich XXXX
(~30 naval vessels)
Dutch naval commander
Guam U.S. Navy / Marine Garrison Cmdr George J. McMillin (USN) X
(~550 troops and sailors)
Very small defense forces
Wake Island USMC 1st Defense Battalion Maj James P.S. Devereux (USMC) & Cmdr Winfield Cunningham (USN) X
(~450 Marines, 12 aircraft)
Navy officer in overall charge, Marines commanded the beach defenses
Midway Island USMC Defense Detachment + USN Capt Cyril T. Simard (USN) X
(~500 men, limited aircraft)
Small mixed Navy/Marine forces
Timor / Moluccas Dutch / Australian Detachments Mixed (Sparrow Force on Timor) X
(~2,500 Australian & Dutch troops)
Very small garrisons and Dutch forces
Guadalcanal No major Allied forces (Dec 1941) (British Protectorate civil authorities) N/A
(No organized forces Dec 1941)
No Allied troops; Japanese occupied in 1942
Australia Australian Home Forces Lt Gen Vernon Sturdee (Gen Sir Thomas Blamey from March 1942) XXX/XXXX
(~250,000 troops mobilizing)
Defense commands divided into regional areas
New Zealand New Zealand Home Forces Maj Gen Edward Puttick (Acting C-in-C Home Forces, NZ Army HQ) XX/XXX
(~30,000 troops on home defense)
2nd NZ Division was overseas (Middle East)
Hawaii U.S. Pacific Fleet Adm Husband E. Kimmel XXXX
(~100 ships, ~200 aircraft)
Fleet HQ Pearl Harbor
Hawaii U.S. Hawaiian Department (Army) Lt Gen Walter C. Short XXX
(~43,000 Army personnel)
Ground and air defense of Oahu


Credits

Courtesy of the United States Military Academy Department of History.



Related Links

About the Second Sino-Japanese War
About the Second World War
WWII Timelines



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Map of World War II: The Far East and the Pacific 1941. Allied commands and positions.
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Map of World War II: The Far East and the Pacific 1941. Allied commands and positions.


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