ANNEX
The Charter of the Combined Civil Affairs Committee
at Washington (under the co-Chairmanship of British and American
representatives) was approved by the Combined Chiefs of Staff in
Paragraph six of this Charter reads as
September, 1943.
follows:-
2.
"Six.
When an enemy occupied territory of the United States,
the United Kingdom or one of the Dominions is to be recovered as a result of an operation, combined or otherwise, the military directive to be given to the force commanders concerned will include policies to be followed in the handling of civil affairs as formulated by the government which exercised authority over the territory before enemy occupation. If paramount military requirements, as determined by the. Force Commander, necessitate the departure from those policies, he will take action and report through
the Chiefs of Staff to the Combined Chiefs of Staff."
There is thus clear agreement with the Americans that
in British territories in the Far East which are in an American
command, the policies to be followed on the liberation of those
territories shall be laid down by H.M.G. and accepted by the
American Force Commander.
3.
This agreement relates to policies only. We have
assumed, however, that it carries the implication that British
Civil Affairs personnel should be used to carry out British
policies, and this is tacitly agreed by the Americans. We have
support for this assumption in the procedure that has been
followed in Borneo. In that connection we informed the
Americans, through the Civil Affairs Committee (London), that
we had collected in London a nucleus Civil Affairs Unit for Borneo
comprising experienced administrative and technical officers
who were in the service of the local Governments prior to
enemy occupation and that these British staffs would be at the
disposal of the American Force Commander. Following on this,
General