740.0011 European War 1939/6837: Telegram
The Minister in Greece (MacVeagh) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 23—4:15 p.m.]
326. Early this afternoon the Premier announced the fall of Koritza to a large crowd in Constitution Square. Details not yet available but the King’s aide has confirmed to me that the booty is considerable and the British Military Attaché described the affair as a major victory. He believes that the Italians have thrown nearly the whole of their Albanian Army into the effort to hold the line, now broken at its most important point, and that withdrawal will be difficult. In this connection, he spoke of the opportunity now presented to deal Italy a serious blow before Germany comes on the scene and urged that while the British command in Egypt is already sending all the planes it can, not a moment should be lost in shipping others from America if such can be obtained. The retiring Rumanian Ambassador, who represents himself as in the confidence of the German Minister told me this morning that the German Legation here is uninformed of any plans to help the Italians, but that he believes personally German assistance of some sort cannot be long delayed.
Department’s telegrams 270 to 274 inclusive and circular of November 20, 6 p.m.51 received today.
- None printed.↩