British Far East Command The Far East Command was a British military command which had 2 distinct periods . These were firstly , 18 November 1940 – 7 January 1942 succeeded by the American - British - Dutch - Australian Command ( ABDACOM ) , and secondly , 1963 – 1971 succeeded by Australia , New Zealand , and United Kingdom Force ( ANZUK Force ) 1940 – 1942 . At the start of World War II , the British had two commands with responsibilities for possessions in the Far East . GHQ India under General Sir Archibald Wavell the Commander - in - Chief , India and the Far East Command under Air Marshal Robert Brooke - Popham and from 23 December 1941 by Lieutenant - General Sir Henry Royds Pownall . The C - in - C Far East Command was responsible directly to the Chiefs of Staff for the operational control and general direction of training of all British land and air forces in Malaya , Burma , and Hong Kong , and for the co - ordination of plans for the defence of those territories . But the CinC exercised no command or control over any naval forces . It was intended that C - in - C should deal primarily with matters of major military policy and strategy , but it was not the intention that the C - in - C should assume any administrative or financial responsibilities or take over any of the day - to - day functions at that time exercised by the General ( or Air ) Officers Commanding ( GOC ) of the different areas . The degree of " operational control " of British land and air forces , which the Commander - in - Chief Far East should assume , was defined as meaning " the higher direction and control " as distinct from " detailed operational control " . To complicate matters , the GOCs correspond with the War Office , Air Ministry , Colonial Office and Local Governor ' s Offices on all matters on which they had previously dealt with those departments . But the GOCs had to keep the C - in - C informed if he wished . To enable the Commander - in - Chief Far East to carry out his functions , he was allowed a small staff , initially consisting of seven officers drawn from all three Services with the necessary clerical and cipher staff . For intelligence purposes , he had at his disposal the Far East Combined Bureau , though it remained under Admiralty control . Although the establishment of his staff was later increased to fifteen it was never large enough . The Naval Base was a considerable distance across Singapore from the Malaya Army Headquarters which discouraged frequent meetings . On 5 December 1941 London gave permission for C - in - C Far East Command to decide if Operation Matador should be activated . The chief strategic decision to be decided was whether Siam should be invaded in a pre - emptive move , before any Japanese landings took place . The Malaya Command was responsible for the planning of Operation Matador . When the Allied governments appointed General Sir Archibald Wavell as supreme commander of American - British - Dutch - Australian Command ( ABDACOM ) , British Far East Command became redundant because its functions would in future be carried out by ABDACOM . So when Wavell arrived in Singapore , where the British Far East Command was based , on 7 January 1942 . ABDACOM absorbed the British command in its entirety and C - in - C Far East Command Henry Royds Pownall became Wavell ' s Chief of Staff . On 15 January , Wavell moved his headquarters to Lembang near Bandung on Java and assumed control of Allied operations . Commanders - in - Chief . Commanders - in - Chief have included : After the Far East came under the jurisdiction , from August 1943 , of South East Asia Command ( ' SEAC ' ) . The initial land forces operational area for SEAC had been India , Burma , Ceylon , British Malaya , Sumatra , and , for offensive operations , Siam ( Thailand ) and French Indochina . On August 15 , 1945 this was expanded to include the Dutch East Indies and French Indochina . SEAC was disbanded in 1946 and in 1947 the Army Command was reformed under the name Far East Land Forces . General Officers Commanding included : 1963 – 1971 . 1963 Far East Command was established , covering the region covered China , Hong Kong , Kobe and Singapore . Major bases included Hong Kong ( HMS " Tamar " ) and Singapore . It was organised as an interservice command : 11 January 1971 disbanded at Singapore ( succeeded by " ANZUK Force " ) . Commanders - in - Chief . Commanders - in - Chief have included : < br > British Commander - in - Chief , Far East Command Commander , British Far East Land Forces