1. I send you herewith for your personal information a summary of
the major operational decisions reached in Anglo-American military
discussions at Berlin.

General Policy
2. It was agreed that the invasion of Japan and operations
directly connected therewith should be the supreme operations in
the war against Japan. Forces and resources will be allocated on
the required scale to assure that invasion can be accomplished at
the earliest practicable date. No other operations will be
undertaken which hazard the success or delay these main
operations.

Strategic Direction of the War
3. It was agreed:

(a) Control of operational strategy in the Pacific theatre will
remain in the hands of the United States Chiefs of Staff who will
provide the British Chiefs of Staff with full and timely
information on future plans and intentions.

(b) The United States Chiefs of Staff will consult the British
Chiefs of Staff on matters of general strategy on the
understanding that in the event of disagreement the final
decisions on the action to be taken will lie with the United
States Chiefs of Staff.

(c) Should the British Chiefs of Staff decide that they cannot
commit British troops in support of a decision made by the United
States Chiefs of Staff as indicated in (b) above, they will give
to the United States Chiefs of Staff such advance notice of their
decision as will permit the latter to make timely rearrangements.

(d) If the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics enters the war
against Japan, the strategy to be pursued will be discussed
between the parties concerned.

Operations in the Pacific
4. The plan for operations in the Pacific is first to intensify
the blockade and air bombardment of Japan in order to create a
situation favourable to an assault on Kyushu. Thereafter the
blockade and air bombardment will be intensified in order to
establish a tactical condition favourable to the decisive invasion
of Honshu.

5. Planning is premised on the belief that the defeat of the
enemy's armed forces in the Japanese homeland is a pre-requisite
to unconditional surrender and that such defeat will establish the
optimum prospect of capitulation by Japanese forces outside the
main Japanese islands.

British Commonwealth Participation in the Operations in the
Pacific Theatre
6. The British Pacific Fleet will participate as at present
planned. A British V.L.R. Bomber force of ten squadrons,
increasing to twenty squadrons when more airfields become
available, will participate. It was agreed in principle that a
Commonwealth land force and, if possible, a small tactical air
force should take part in the final phase of the war against
Japan, subject to the satisfactory resolution of logistical and
other problems.

7. The participation of this Commonwealth land force is the
subject of separate communications to the Dominion Governments
concerned.

Operations in the South East Asia Command
8. A directive has been approved for issue to Admiral Mountbatten.

His primary task is to open the Straits of Malacca at the earliest
possible moment. Thereafter operations are to continue in the
outer zone to the extent that forces and resources permit. The
order of priority for these operations has been laid down as:

(a) The completion of the liberation of Malaya.

(b) The maintenance of pressure on the Japanese across the Burma/
Siam frontier.

(c) The capture of key areas in Siam.

(d) The establishment of bridgeheads in Java and/or Sumatra to
enable the subsequent clearance of these areas to be undertaken in
due course.

9. It has been agreed that the eastern boundary of the South East
Asia Command will be extended to include Borneo, Java and the
Celebes. This extension of Command and re-arrangement in the South
West Pacific is the subject of separate communications to the
Australian and New Zealand Governments. When agreement has been
reached with them, agreement with the Dutch Government will be
sought.

10. A proposal is to be put to Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek that
that part of Indo-China lying south of latitude 16 degrees north
should be transferred to the area of South East Asia Command.

French and Dutch Participation in the War Against Japan
11. While it is at present impracticable on account of logistical
difficulties for French or Dutch armed forces to take a major part
in the immediate operations in the Far East, the provision of such
assistance as may be synchronised with operations is to be taken
into account. The use of French or Dutch forces will depend solely
on military considerations and the French and Dutch
representatives will be given timely information of intentions
affecting their territories or armed forces in the Far East. The
French have offered a corps of two infantry divisions to serve in
the Pacific War. This offer has been accepted in principle but it
will not be possible to commit the corps to operations prior to
the spring of 1946. The place where the corps will operate will be
determined later.

Planning Date for the End of Organised Resistance by Japan
12. Subject to periodical adjustment the 15th November, 1946, has
been adopted as the planning date for the end of organised
resistance by Japan. This is for the purpose of planning
production and the allocation of manpower.

Cargo Shipping
13. Present estimates indicate the position to be sufficiently
manageable to provide for the maximum effort in the prosecution of
the war against Japan for the maintenance of the war-making
capacity of the British Commonwealth of Nations and the Western
Hemisphere insofar as it is connected with the prosecution of the
war against Japan and for other essential programmes.