Missing Pieces: - Royal Australian Navy

280 Missing Pieces
conclusion
There were always frictions within the SWPA intelligence world, but it appears to have
worked extremely successfully in its principal purpose of supporting the planning and
conduct of military operations against the Japanese. Looking back, a researcher can
only marvel that, given the obvious potential for confusion involved in coordinating
such a multiplicity of agencies, ambitions, personalities, priorities, nationalities and
demands, such a coherent organisation was able to be cobbled together in such a
short time. Moreover, it was created out of a ragbag of resources in a command not
enjoying the fullest of support from the CCS, and in a country like Australia, where
the intelligence services were unable to draw on the kinds of expertise available in the
United States or Britain in government, military and academic circles.
In the three years 1942 to 1945, the Australian military intelligence organisation
developed many of the skills and characteristics required of a modern intelligence
system, and the capabilities to support not only Australian single and joint service
operations, but to make a solid contribution to Allied combined operations as well. It
was fortunate that General MacArthur was unable to extract from US resources the
manpower and material required for his intelligence organisation, since this ensured
that Australian personnel, agencies and units played a disproportionately large role
in this field in comparison with the fighting arms. In the words of David Horner, ‘This
was a substantial achievement which was to have important repercussions for the
future.’ 891