General Sir Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief India and Commander of ABDA, greeting officers and men of 20th Indian Division, 1942 (c)

Photograph, World War Two, Far East (1941-1945), 1942 (c).

In December 1941 Wavell, who was already Commander-in-Chief in India, was made Commander-in-Chief of American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM), responsible for the defence of India, Burma, Malaya, the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines.

Wavell had a thinly spread force to cover such a huge area and struggled to co-ordinate action between the forces of four nationalities. Finding himself vastly outnumbered and under resourced, he was unable to prevent Malaya and Singapore falling into Japanese hands in 1942. ABDA was abolished soon afterwards.

One of six photographs relating to the Indian Army, 1939-1945.