841D.24/24
Memorandum by Mr. Edgar P. Allen of the Division of Controls
Upon the receipt of the attached telegram number 68 dated August 15, 1940,7 from the American Legation at Dublin, I telephoned Colonel MacMorland of the Army and Navy Munitions Board for information in regard thereto. Colonel MacMorland said that the President had directed the sale of the final lot of eighty thousand surplus Lee-Enfield rifles to Canada, having had before him at the time both the Canadian and Irish requests. He said that it was his understanding that the British Purchasing Commission would supply the Irish needs from the quantity which was sold in Canada. In a later conversation with Colonel MacMorland, after my discussions with Mr. Buckley and Mr. Ballantine, related below, Colonel MacMorland said that he had not been present at the final meeting at which the disposal of these rifles was decided upon and that he is in agreement with the view that the question of supplying rifles to the Irish is one for determination between the British and Irish authorities.
I telephoned Mr. Buckley, who is acting, in Mr. Young’s absence, for Mr. Philip Young, Chairman of the President’s Liaison Committee charged with coordinating sales to foreign governments with the needs of our own services. Mr. Buckley read to me a letter which he addressed to the Irish Minister under date of August 15, 1940, in which he referred to the Minister’s request of June 17 to purchase twenty thousand Lee-Enfield rifles and informed the Minister that there are no surplus Lee-Enfield rifles available for sale at this time. The Minister was given the pertinent facts in regard to the sale of the eighty thousand rifles to Canada.
Mr. Buckley said, as had Colonel MacMorland, that when the eighty thousand rifles were up for disposal, the President had before him both the Canadian and Irish requests and that the President endorsed the document “O. K. for Canada.” Mr. Buckley said that it was his understanding that any rifles supplied to Ireland would have to be taken care of out of the quantity sold to Canada. He expressed the feeling that this was a question for discussion and determination between the British and Irish authorities.
[Page 165]Mr. Ballantine of the British Purchasing Commission was in Mr. Buckley’s office at the time of my discussion with Mr. Buckley and I conferred briefly by telephone with Mr. Ballantine who informed me that the Canadians did not originally have in mind purchasing as many as eighty thousand rifles and that this larger quantity of rifles was made available to Canada for the sole reason of hemisphere defense. He indicated that he has discussed the question with the Secretary of the Irish Legation but was rather positive in indicating the feeling that there would be a breach of confidence if any of these rifles were to be turned over to Ireland. Neither Colonel MacMorland nor Mr. Buckley has any record of any such understanding and they are both strongly of the opinion that if the British wish the Irish to have these rifles, it is up to the British to provide them in one way or another.
- Supra. ↩