811.22751/13: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Bullitt) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 13—12:48 p.m.]
639. Personal for the President. The French Government desires to send to the United States for training as aviators a number of young Frenchmen. Before making a formal request for permission to carry out this project Charveriat, Director of Political Affairs at the French Foreign Office, asked me unofficially on behalf of Reynaud73 and the Ministry of Air if I could find out from you [Page 218] whether the sending to the United States of young men to be trained as aviators would embarrass you and, if it did not embarrass you, how the project should be carried out.
If you should approve of the project it would be handled entirely in accordance with your wishes both with regard to numbers of men sent and with regard to forms of training and places of training.
The French aviation schools cannot begin to cope with the needs of the air service. Hence the desire to have men trained in the United States.
Charveriat explained that the French Government would be entirely willing to have these men merely go through preliminary training program of becoming expert transport pilots and would not insist on their being given any military training whatsoever.
I replied that I would refer this question to you personally.
In my own opinion it would be greatly to the advantage of our country to have more trained French pilots: in defending France they would defend us. If France should be defeated they would enlist in our Army.
I hope that your answer will be in the affirmative and that you will cable me soon just how you wish the matter handled. Nothing will be done until I hear from you.
Please answer quickly.
- Paul Reynaud, French Premier and Minister for Foreign Affairs.↩