title: An occupation force for Japan 1945-1946
abstract: Throughout 1944 and the first part of 1945 Blamey and the Chiefs of Staff had resisted vigorously the government's attempts to release men from the Services. While Blamey fought a skilled administrative action to retain the army's numbers, the decisive factor, in early 1945, had been MacArthur's advice that he intended to use all of the Australian units assigned to him.1 Furthermore, to secure greater Australian influence some members of the government had been keen for Australian troops to take