This is an entry in a year-long project to post-blog the demobilisation experience for British servicemen at the end of the Second World War. See here for an introduction to the project and here for a brief overview of the demobilisation process.
The Observer reports on the British government's plans to retire from some of its extensive defence commitments. By the end of June 1946, British troops will leave Lebanon, where they have been since the invasion of the then-Vichy colony in 1941. And all British and Indian personnel are to hand over security responsibilities in Java to Dutch troops during the next six months. This retrenchment will ease the enormous strain on the overstretched British forces across the world, especially given the turbulent political situation in both Lebanon and the Dutch East Indies.
The paper also notes that HMS Ajax, the Leander class light cruiser which became famous during the 1939 Battle of the River Plate, berthed at Chatham last night after a return trip to Montevideo, scene of her victory over six years ago. She soon sails to rejoin the Mediterranean fleet.
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