Background
A raid in the Sumatra area had been requested by United States as a distraction from their own operations on Hollandia (now Jayapura). Somerville, the British commander, had selected Sabang for its location at the entrance to the Malacca Strait and its strategic installations, such as a radar station, port and airfields. At this time, Japanese forces in Burma were under pressure and suffering serious supply problems: the raid was expected to exacerbate these problems and thereby assist the British 14th Army. A further gain was the opportunity for Royal Navy and Fleet Air Arm crews to work with United States personnel and learn procedures needed for their subsequent deployment as the British Pacific Fleet.
The action had been made possible by the recent substantial increase in the destroyer strength needed to escort the task forces' capital ships.
Read more about this topic: Operation Cockpit
Famous quotes containing the word background:
“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In the true sense one’s native land, with its background of tradition, early impressions, reminiscences and other things dear to one, is not enough to make sensitive human beings feel at home.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)