File No. 341.622a/167
The Ambassador in Great Britain (Page) to the Secretary of State
[Received 2 p. m.]
4508. Before the receipt of your 3464, June 28, 5 p. m., I had again taken up the subject with Sir Edward Grey and I have just now received from him, enclosed with a note, the following memorandum:
His Majesty’s Government are making arrangements for the release according to promise of the persons removed from the S. S. China. The memorandum [Page 651] promising the release, which was given to the American Ambassador, was given under the impression that none of the persons who were to be released were of military age or character. It now appears that many of the persons are of military age, that they are military or naval reservists, and according to the latest information at the Admiralty some of them are officers who have actually served in the present war who had been taken prisoners and subsequently escaped. The knowledge that these persons were military or naval reservists or of military age was known to the officer who ordered their Removal at the time of their arrest, although this information had not at that date reached the Admiralty. Had these facts been known to the First Lord of the Admiralty or the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the promise would never have been given, and it is only on the receipt of full reports that have been a long time in reaching His Majesty’s Government from the officers on the spot, owing to the distance, that the facts have become known. Nevertheless, as has previously been stated by Sir Edward Grey in conversation, the promise having been given to release the men, it will be fulfilled to the letter. Arrangements are being made to send the men to Shanghai, their port of departure, and the nearest port to the place at which they were captured.
Foreign Office, June 28, 1916 .