Office, and then, from 1940, was General Officer Commanding British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan. In 1941 he became Commander-in-Chief of the West Africa Command. While the Mediterranean was barred to British shipping by German and Italian naval and air force units, West Africa was an important link in Allied lines of communication to the Middle East and the Far East. In addition to organising the logistic infrastructure, Giffard's major achievement was the reorganisation of the units of the Royal West African Frontier Force into two field infantry divisions, capable of serving as independent forces in rough terrain. Initially, this was in response to a potential threat from Vichy French forces in Senegal and Niger. Later, these two divisions, 81st (West Africa) Division and 82nd (West Africa) Division served with distinction in the Burma Campaign. He was made General Officer Commanding, Eastern Army, in India, in May 1943. This army faced the Japanese army which had occupied Burma. Several sources, notably Field Marshal William "Bill" Slim, testified to his contribution to the improvement in morale and effectiveness in Eastern Army during this period. In October 1943 he was appointed Commander in Chief of 11th Army Group in India and Burma, effectively being commander in chief of land forces in the South East Asia Command. His period of command here was less happy. He was temperamentally the opposite of the publicity-hungry Commander in Chief, Admiral Louis Mountbatten, and the two men often clashed. He and the United States General Joseph Stilwell also disliked each other. Stilwell, as commander of the Northern Combat Area Command, refused to take Giffard's orders, claiming that he could not submit American forces to British control, and as Deputy Supreme Commander to Mountbatten he was in any case Giffard's superior. The resulting command arrangement was an awkward compromise. In March 1944, relations between Mountbatten and Giffard broke during a crisis at the start of the Battle of Imphal. Mountbatten acted decisively to obtain transport aircraft from the United States Army Air Force to fly reinforcements and supplies to the isolated Allied troops at Imphal. Mountbatten's Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Henry Pownall, wrote that Giffard had shown no initiative at all. Giffard was notified of his dismissal in May, but was asked to remain in post until his successor, Lieutenant-General Oliver Leese, could relieve him. As a result, he remained until October. Other appointments In 1945, he was