He said that at the present time the situation in the .Far East is
tragic; that General Brereton, who was the air officer in the
Philippines, had left the Philippines with heavy bombers and had been
able to establish some contact with local commanders in Borneo and had
ended up in Surabay. a, Java. The information from General Brereton has
been the most heartening from the .Far East in the past few days.
 
                MARSHAL DILL observed, with regard to General
Marshali's draft, that the restrictions en the commander were too
greag.; that the proposition formed a good basis to work On, but the
restr, ictions would make it very difficult for the Commander-in-Chief
to exercise command.
 
               GENERAL MARSHALL agreed that the restrictions were
great, but 'stated that if the Supreme Commander ended up with no more
author, ity than to tell
Washington what he wanted, such a situation was better than nothing,
and an imprOvement over the 'present situation.
 
                 AIR CHIEF MARSHAL POHTAL.commended the paper for its
realism; 'he observed that it sep. arated a.c0mmander's resources in
air defense and air offense, which indicated 'some of~the problems of
'such a proposition. 'Me'stated that the primary censidera~d~n should
be what is sound from a military point~ of'v. iew; that what might be
gained by the military aspect of uni~.ied.command might be lost by the
necessity of political .considerations. 'Ite asked if it would not be
possible to give the commander a free 'hand, and to'have all the
political questions resoIved, say., in Washington, or., as an alter
na~ive suggestion, by a representative in the area, rather along the
lines adopted by the Bri~ish in the Middle East.
 
                'GENERAL MARSHALL said that political questions could
be settled~in WaShington. 'He agreed that 'his paper 'had~been drawn en
realistic lines. 'He thoughtsAir Marshal Portal was talking more in
terms of idealism; that what be desired to do w. as to 'start
'something.
 
               ~ADMIRAL STARE pointed out that .under the pr0wisions of
the draft directlye, troops of one nation could not be mdved out of its
own possessions w. ithout approval of the 'home government. 'Me felt
that the restr, ictiens were
z heavy., ibut realis~io; and that it was better to h~ve restrictions
f. irst and
then remdve them, than to fail in establishing the pr. inaiple.
 
               z AIR MARSHAL PORTAL pointed out that if the 'Supreme
Commander desired to mdve the air forces of one of'the elements of the
command,'he 'shculd know the cap. abilities of these for. ces, and that
.could only be accomplished by 'hav. ing a suitable liaison element.
 
             ~ADMIRAL EING thought that it wouldlbe~imposslble to get
the idea of.a single Commanders. in-Chief accepted by the
gdvernments.cencerned .unless the 1'1mi-
    ta~ions were imposed. 'Ne suggested that the Chiefs
of'Staff'Conference preDate an outline plan for presentation to the
Praline Minister and the President.
 
z .5