as constantly an argument between Army and Navy leaders, intern General MacArthur was given command of the Southwest Pacific area which included mainly Australia and the Phillipines. Admiral Nimitz was consequentially given command over the remainder of the region stretching back to the east. This boundary was later to be moved one degree West so that Guadalcanal would fall under Nimitz’s control when battle was imminent.On April 1, President Roosevelt received the “Marshall Memorandum”, which was essentially a document, which called for a distinct choice between security in the Pacific and an early offensive in Europe. Marshall believed that prompt American action was essential to prevent defeat in the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. Basically Marshall was in favor of fighting the European front, and wanted a commitment by the United States to do the same. At first the British were in favor of King’s campaign in the Pacific but then decided in favor of the Marshall Plan when the Japanese’s intentions of merely raiding and not landing became clear. This basically ended British interests in the Pacific even though the debates raged on. Many opinions changed however on May 3 when the Japanese captured the island of Tulagi, which boarders Guadalcanal just to the north. Immediately Nimitz proposed a strike to halt the Japanese advance, but MacArthur quickly objected on the grounds that he had no forces available to hold Tulagi.Dor Brown4The Japanese advance was brought to a stand still later at the battles of Coral Sea and Midway, thanks to American code breakers. At the battle of Midway specifically the Japanese suffered a large defeat and a large amount of their air power was diminished. At this same point in time, the Australian Navy had been operating its’ Coastwatcherssystem which was especially helpful during the war. The Coastwatchers consisted of local natives from the various isla...
