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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
September, 1943. Paragraph six of this Charter reads as
follows:-
#81x 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."
2. 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 His Majesty's Government 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 Fores
Commander. Following on this, General MacArthur stated in
September,
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