Strategy, Fleet Logistics, and the Lethbridge Mission to the Pacific and Indian Oceans 1943–1944

Abstract

In modern warfare at and from the sea, logistics are crucially important to the implementation of strategy and conduct of operational campaigns. Between August 1943 and March 1944, a British joint service mission led by Major-General John Lethbridge travelled to North America, the Pacific, and India to study the organisation, equipment, and methods necessary for coming offensive operations against Japan. The British obtained valuable information from the Americans and connected with those countries of the British Empire most directly involved. The Lethbridge Mission's progress and findings informed evolving Admiralty planning for supporting naval forces to be sent to the Indian and Pacific Oceans in pursuance of British wartime strategy.

Key Words:

• Lethbridge Mission
• Wartime Strategy
• Maritime Logistics
• Royal Navy
• World War
• 1939–1945 Campaigns

Acknowledgements

Research for this article was made possible through funds from Canada's Department of National Defence and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. An earlier version was presented as a paper on a panel at the Society for Military History Annual Conference at the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas on 20 May 2006. Randy Papadopoulos, Craig Stone, and Ken Hansen made helpful suggestions and Cathy Murphy, Chief Librarian at the Canadian Forces College, added essential microform publications and books to the Information Resource Centre's growing research collections in military history and defence studies. Material is used with permission from the trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives.

Notes

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