File No. 763.72/3588
The Ambassador in Great Britain ( Page) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 26, 12.30 a.m.]
5887. Your 4551, March 16, 11 a.m. At the invitation of the British military authorities and in pursuit of information from every possible quarter, I consented that one of the secretaries of the Embassy should make a few days’ private and unofficial visit to the British headquarters in France. He reports that the feeling among all ranks is friendly and sympathetic to the United States and that it is the earnest hope of those in higher command that if our country enters the war we will not wait until an army could be trained and equipped in order to cooperate with the Allies in France, but that We send smaller units immediately or that Americans be allowed to come to England for enlistment and training. It was also suggested that regiment might be recruited among Americans in this country and trained by Americans who are serving with the British Army in large numbers as officers and men. This practical cooperation is desirable purely for the moral effect.
[Page 7]The staff general at the head of the Army Intelligence stated that it would be most important to establish an American liaison in France immediately upon the outbreak of war and he added, “Colonel Lassiter1 would be the ideal man to head such a mission.”
The general also said that it would be advisable to attach at the same time to the head of such a military mission a secretary of this Embassy who would know and understand the British officers and work in close harmony with them, and the intelligence corps and publicity bureau. The general believed that in this way more time could be saved, and the chance of leakage minimized, than if important matters were handled through the routine channel of communication. I learn that Lassiter during his recent initial visit to the front made the most favorable impression on all officers with whom he came in contact and they were very loud in his praise and I hope this may be communicated to the Secretary of War.
- Col. William Lassiter, military attaché at London.↩