868.248/106
Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Welles) to the Chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs (Murray)
Mr. Murray: The British Chargé d’Affaires called to see me this morning. He conveyed a message from the British Government to this effect. The British Government is willing to provide the Greek Army immediately with thirty Mohawk planes which are either actually in Egypt or already en route from England to Egypt. This would be done by the British authorities on the understanding that the United States Government would arrange subsequently at the earliest possible date to replace these Mohawk planes with thirty Tomahawk planes now completed under British orders in the United States and that the United States would further agree to ship these thirty Tomahawk planes on an American ship to Basra. I told Mr. Butler that I would submit this suggestion to the appropriate authorities here for their consideration. It is my understanding that Mr. Arthur Purvis [Page 606] will make this same suggestion to Secretary of the Treasury Morgenthau this afternoon. I think that the Secretary of State should be informed of this suggestion at once so that the various phases of the question can be considered by him at the same time that the matter is under consideration by the Treasury and National Defense experts.