South West Pacific Area (SWPA) was the name given to the Allied supreme military command in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands in the Pacific War. SWPA included the Philippines, Borneo, the Dutch East Indies, East Timor, Australia, the Territories of Papua and New Guinea, and the western part of the Solomon Islands. It primarily consisted of United States and Australian forces, although Dutch, Filipino, British, and other Allied forces also served in the SWPA.
General Douglas MacArthur and Australian Prime Minister John Curtin.
Command Organization, Southwest Pacific Area, July 1943
Royal Australian Air Force chief, Air Vice Marshal George Jones (left) meeting the Allied air forces commander in the SWPA, Lieutenant General George Kenney (right) in mid-1945, in Manila.
Allied Naval Forces SWPA, commander Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid (centre left) with MacArthur (centre) on 28 February 1944 on USS Phoenix during the bombardment of Los Negros Island, at the commencement of the Admiralty Islands campaign.
South West Pacific theatre of World War II
The South West Pacific theatre, during World War II, was a major theatre of the war between the Allies and the Axis. It included the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, Borneo, Australia and its mandate Territory of New Guinea and the western part of the Solomon Islands. This area was defined by the Allied powers' South West Pacific Area (SWPA) command.
Australian troops at Milne Bay, New Guinea. The Australian army was the first to inflict defeat on the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II at the Battle of Milne Bay of August–September 1942.
Australian cruiser Canberra (center left) protects three Allied transport ships (background and center right) unloading troops and supplies at Tulagi.
Japanese troops load onto a warship in preparation for a Tokyo Express run sometime in 1942.
A U.S. A-20G bomber of the 3rd Attack Group bombs a Japanese merchant ship off New Guinea during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, March 1943.
