No Allied invasion

As an ardent believer in the tenet of respect for another reader's opinion in leisurely matters brought out in this popular column, I highly appreciate the logic expressed in the comment to my letter Mr. John R. Sprout, Jr. of Semarang wrote in this column of The Jakarta Post of Aug. 24, 1995.

Now, as I write this letter, it is meant only to bring to light that, fortunately, the feared "major Allied invasion" into Indonesia turned out to be a foreboding that must be considered as being entirely ruled out.

According to Clay Blair, Jr., in his book MacArthur (1977), on Feb. 27, 1945, MacArthur entered Manila and re-established the Philippine government under President Osmena. On March 2, 1945, MacArthur embarked for Corregidor.

Meanwhile, so the book narrated, MacArthur had submitted plans to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (in Washington, D.C.) for further conquests in the south by (Lt. Gen.) Eichelberger's Eighth Army, principally Borneo (now called Kalimantan) and Java.

The Chiefs of Staff reluctantly approved Borneo, but they vetoed the invasion of Java. The Borneo invasion was assigned to the Australians.

MacArthur himself got ashore at Balikpapan on July 1, 1945, to watch the Australian landing. By July 3, 1945, the Australian operations on Borneo were considered a complete success, and for all practical purposes the Southern Philippine and Borneo campaigns were over. The Philippines (plus Borneo) had been liberated, as MacArthur had demanded all along. Such was the story told us by Clay Blair, Jr.

So, fortunately, the drama of the major Allied invasion under the command of General MacArthur, or of Lt. Gen. Eichelberger into Java, which at the time should have be the stronghold of Japanese forces, did not come into actual play at all.

SAM SUHAEDI

Jakarta