As the situation in the Pacific grew desperate for the Allies, plans were made to deploy I Corps headquarters, and the 6th and 7th Divisions, to Sumatra, Java, or possibly to Burma to help stem the tide of the Japanese advance on Rangoon. An advanced party, including the corps commander, Lavarack, flew to Java ahead of the landing and advised against deploying the force there, advising that they should be sent to Burma instead. The Australian government ultimately rejected the request to divert the 7th Division to Rangoon, and although most of the force returned to Australia, Lavarack was not able to prevent some elements from landing in Java – mainly the troops on the transport "Orcades" consisting of a machine gun battalion (the &lt;a href="2/3rd%20Machine%20Gun%20Battalion%20%28Australia%29"&gt;2/3rd&lt;/a&gt;) and a pioneer battalion (the &lt;a href="2/2nd%20Pioneer%20Battalion%20%28Australia%29"&gt;2/2nd&lt;/a&gt;), as well as engineers, transport and medical personnel, who became part of Blackforce under Brigadier Arthur Blackburn. This force fought briefly alongside US and Dutch forces before being overwhelmed and taken into captivity.