Pacific War Council

Following the establishment of the short-lived American-British-Dutch-Australian military command (ABDACOM) in January 1942, the governments of Australia, the Netherlands and New Zealand began to push Winston Churchill for an inter-governmental war council based in Washington D.C.

The Pacific War Council was formed in Washington on April 1, 1942, with a membership consisting of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, his key advisor Harry Hopkins, and representatives from Britain, China, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Canada.

Roosevelt wanted to retain the current arrangements for British-American collaboration, and suggested that where the interests of the three countries (Australia, the Dutch East Indies and New Zealand) were involved they could attend meetings of the Combined Chiefs of Staff in Washington (CCOS) and give their views on the spot.

In return, the United States undertook the establishment of close working arrangements with the three military missions so they could give informed advice.

The council never had any direct operational control and any decisions it made were referred to the U.S.-British Combined Chiefs of Staff, which was also in Washington.