740.0011 European War 1939/7722: Telegram
The Minister in Greece (MacVeagh) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 19—8:39 a.m.]
26. General Wavell and Air Marshal Longmore of the Middle East Command have been conferring here for the past few days with [Page 638] the Greek leaders and the chiefs of the Royal Air Force and the British Military Mission to Greece. Topics of the Conference have included, according to reliable information, not only the immediate problem of furnishing army supplies to this country from Egypt but also the possibility of combined operations against Germany either defensive or offensive according as circumstances develop in the near future. As regards the former, results appear to have been largely negative owing partly to the lack of transportation facilities at the moment. Regarding the latter, however, Greek caution seems to have yielded at least to the extent of permitting British reconnaissance visits to Salonika hitherto not allowed for fear of German suspicion and possible reprisal. Furthermore, I understand that a beginning of active military cooperation is under discussion to take the form of British administrative control to increase efficiency in transport and technical services and to facilitate greater and wider efforts on this front if and when undertaken.
British pressure on Greece to adopt a more determined attitude toward risking a war with Germany is being reinforced by a growing belief here in the wholeheartedness and future overwhelming effectiveness of American aid, but its success at this time will doubtless also depend on the results obtained by the present British Military Mission to Turkey which I am informed is endeavoring to secure active participation in the war on the part of that country.11
From American correspondents just returned from Crete I learn that the British have now a full division on that island with much motorized equipment in addition to aviation and antiaircraft troops.
- For correspondence regarding the attitude of Turkey, see vol. iii, pp. 814 ff.↩