American-British-Dutch-Australian Command

ABDA was the acronym for a short-lived unified command of all "American-British-Dutch-Australian" military and naval forces in the Pacific War. Efforts to organise this began soon after war between the Allies and Japan commenced, on December 7, 1941

Following the Declaration by the United Nations on January 1, 1942, the Allied governments appointed General Sir Archibald Wavell supreme commander of all ABDA forces. This gave Wavell nominal control of a huge, but thinly-spread force, along a long front from India to New Guinea to Hawaii. However, the rapid collapse of British, United States, Netherlands and Australian resistance on the Malayan Peninsula, the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines had soon split the "ABDA area" in two.

Following the destruction of a combined ABDA naval force under Admiral Karel Doorman at the Battle of the Java Sea, in February-March 1942, the unified ABDA command was dissolved.

Wavell was thereafter Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia, which covered Allied forces South East Asia, to the south of China and west of Java. General Douglas MacArthur became Supreme Allied Commander South West Pacific and Admiral Chester Nimitz was appointed Allied Commander Pacific Ocean Areas.