(right), First Deputy Supreme Allied Commander of the South East Asia Command, together with General
Frank Merrill, in
Burma during the
Burma Campaign. The borders of SEAC were adjusted in the aftermath of the war, and its emphasis shifted from combat operations to military government. French Indochina was added, along with
Borneo – most of which had already been captured by Australian forces, under the
South West Pacific Command – and
Java. The command became responsible for over 128 million people, with at least 120,000 of them still under Japanese custody. This added immensely to its problems. At the same time, Western governments expected SEAC to re-establish colonial regimes in territories lost to Japan in 1941–45 where nationalist, anti-colonial forces had gained strength. After Japan's surrender, Lt. General
Itagaki Seishiro, who commanded the
Japanese Seventh Area Army in Southeast Asia, were sent to Tokyo to stand trial for war crime. His soldiers who guarded the Jurong and Changi prisons in Singapore became captives of their former Allied prisoners. The British soon put these captives to work filling bomb craters, cleaning toilets, and cutting grass. They marched to their work sites each morning and back to their prisons at night. There were bouts of violence targeting former Japanese soldiers, but there were also offers of help to those Japanese civilians that were still waiting to be repatriated. Food shortages were everywhere. Requisitions by the Japanese military during the war had encouraged the hoarding but discouraged the growing of rice. Migrations to urban areas, where rations were rumored to be more available, worsened the situation. In Kuala Lumpur, Pahang, Kelantan, Trengganu, and Singapore, over 20 per cent of children were undersized or malnourished for their age. The British tried to bring in as much food as they could, but the system of rationing soon broke down. Prices soared, and a black market for British military ration flourished. Rising inflation was made worse after the British demonetized the Japanese occupation currency. A wave of strikes swept Singapore, led by Communist leaning labour unions and hundreds of thousands their members.
British Commonwealth troops were landed in the
Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and
French Indochina to facilitate the return of forces from the pre-war colonial powers. The formation deployed to the East Indies was the
Indian XV Corps under command of Lieutenant General
Sir Philip Christison, which included
5th Indian Infantry Division,
23rd Indian Infantry Division and
5th Parachute Brigade. Military government was soon established in Burma, Malaya, Singapore and
British Borneo.
Sarawak and Sumatra did not prove to be major headaches for the British, except that one Japanese unit in Borneo refused to surrender until November 1945. Thailand, although it had officially been an ally of Japan, quickly resumed both its independence and its ties with the western powers. Because of shortages of personnel, some use was made of
Japanese Surrendered Personnel (JSP) in these areas. The Allies found that their war-time allies in the
Viet Minh in Indochina, and Indonesian nationalist forces in the East Indies, were well armed, well-organised and determined. It was intended that British forces would temporarily enforce military government over a small section of Indochina, because of local resistance, logistics and French sensibilities. However, in the end the commander of British forces declared
de facto military government, to make it possible for French forces to return.
Indonesian National Revolution, 1945–46 Aided by armed militias formed by the Japanese during the occupation, Indonesian nationalists in Java declared the Dutch East Indies a republic, and independent from the
Netherlands. The British intended that the Dutch colonial administration should return, and assisted a small military contingent, the
Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA). However they initially avoided significant conflict with the nationalists. It was only possible for British forces to establish military government in parts of Indonesia, and they found that the location of Allied prisoners of war – and civilians interned by Japanese forces – were sometimes used by nationalists in bargaining for political ends. British troops found themselves in increasing conflict with the nationalists. The nationalists attacked JSP garrisons awaiting repatriation, to seize their arms. A British Brigadier,
A. W. S. Mallaby, was killed, as he pushed for the nationalists to surrender their weapons. As a result, on 10 November 1945, Surabaya was attacked by British forces, leading to the bloody
Battle of Surabaya. The city was secured later that month. The battle for Surabaya was the bloodiest single engagement of the
Indonesian National Revolution (1945–49). However, the British were reluctant to devote their scarce resources to a defence of Dutch interests, and withdrew from Indonesia. ==Disbandment==