1941, Saturday 29 November;
In the mid-afternoon meeting, it had been made clear to both Lord Gort and Admiral Layton, that the Washington talks were very much in danger of coming to an end, with no agreement, and that sensible precautions needed to be taken. The officer who had briefed them, Capt Marr-Johnson, of the Military Special Intelligence Party, was something of a mystery to most, with no significant title or position of command, but both leaders were under no illusion that his briefings were not to be taken lightly. They were also told that the US commanders, MacArthur and Hart would probably have also been given a similar briefing, but the Dutch would not have that information.
They had quietly agreed at the American, Dutch and British staff conference, back in April, that in the event of a probable impending outbreak of war, the Allies, namely the Americans, British, Dutch and Australians, would implement a series of coordinated measures aimed at, in the very least, of providing themselves with good reconnaissance of Japanese Naval intentions and a tripwire by way of submarine picket lines. This still didn’t commit either the USA nor Britain to guaranteeing the security of the Dutch East Indies, but all parties were under no illusions about the importance of mutual support and cooperation.
A call to Adm Hart found him in total agreement as to the need to invoke the reconnaissance agreements, and Gen Brereton, the new commander of the USAAF was very positive about the urgency to being ready. Using their good personal relationships with the Dutch, Gort called Ter Poorten, while Hart had a long telephone conversation with Adm Helfrich, who after conferring with each other, quickly agreed.
With everyone in agreement, specific units were placed on notice, all leave cancelled, with personnel recalled, while supplies and munitions levels were increased at unit level. In hangers across South-East Asia, efforts were doubled to prepare the maximum number of aircraft readied for operations. The dockyards of Singapore, Hong Kong, Manila and Soerabaja were prioritising the resupply and readiness of the submarine fleets. In the next few days aircraft would be moved to advanced airfields, with support services, and submarines begin departing to take station on their picket lines.