They obtained a promise of Chinese troops to assist in the defence of Burma. Near Rangoon, Wavell's and Brett’s aircraft was attacked by Japanese aircraft and they were forced to make an emergency landing at a friendly aerodrome in Burma. The area was then bombed by the Japanese, but neither general was harmed. Brett was appointed Deputy Supreme Commander of the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDA), under Wavell, on 1 January 1942, and was promoted to lieutenant general on 7 January 1942. He arrived in Darwin on 28 December 1941. In January he moved to Lembang in West Java, where Wavell established his headquarters. The rapid advance of Japanese forces through South East Asia had soon split the Allied-controlled area in two. Brett departed Java for Australia on 23 February 1942, reaching Melbourne the next day, where he resumed command of US Army Forces in Australia. ABDA was formally dissolved on 25 February. Australia Already, General Douglas MacArthur had also been ordered to Australia. Brett received warning from the Chief of Staff, General George Marshall that MacArthur would call on him to send a flight of long-range bombers to Mindanao. The only aircraft that Brett could find were B-17s of the 19th Bombardment Group which had seen hard service in the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies campaigns. Brett approached Vice Admiral Herbert F. Leary, the commander of naval forces in the Anzac Area, to ask for a loan of some of twelve newly arrived navy B-17s. Leary refused. Brett therefore sent four of the 19th Bombardment Group's old planes. Only one, a B-17 with no brakes piloted by Lieutenant Harl Pease, made it to Mindanao; two turned back with engine trouble, while a fourth ditched in the sea, its crew managing to escape. MacArthur was incensed and sent a message to Marshall. A message from Washington, D.C. persuaded Leary to release four new B-17s to Brett and these aircraft reached Mindanao on 16 March 1942 and managed to bring MacArthur and his party to Australia. Despite the lack of brakes, Pease also made it back, carrying sixteen refugees. It fell to Brett to telephone Prime Minister John Curtin and inform him of MacArthur's arrival. Although Curtin was unaware of MacArthur's impending arrival, and had expected that Brett would command American forces in Australia, he was persuaded to issue a recommendation that MacArthur be made Supreme Commander South West Pacific Area. While