JARDINE-BLAKE, William Vere (comp.).

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Operations of the Allied Geographical Section, General Headquarters, South-West Pacific Area. An expansive record, classified "restricted", one of a small number set aside "for individuals whose participation in the campaigns of the South-West Pacific Area, in command and staff positions, has been outstanding." This set was reserved for the compiler, Colonel Jardine-Blake, the Allied Geographical Section's director from 1942 to the close of the war. Each volume opens with an introductory sheet, personalized with Jardine-Blake's name and signed by Major-General Charles A. Willoughby, General MacArthur's director of intelligence during the war.Jardine-Blake (1894-1971), Australian Imperial Force, served at Gallipoli during the First World War and as a civil servant in Fiji during peacetime. Recalled in 1939, he was assigned to G Branch, Directorate of Military Intelligence. "After Japan's entry into the war in December 1941, it became evident that terrain information then available on the South-West Pacific Area, particularly on the vast reaches of New Guinea, was inadequate for planning and operational purposes. An Allied Geographical Section... was created in an effort to deal adequately with the requirements of staff and troops" (preface). For his contributions to intelligence work, he was one of the few Australians awarded the US Legion of Merit. The first plate in the main volume is a photographic portrait of Jardine-Blake.The text, supported by a large number of maps and

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