No Allied invasion

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