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  4. Document 174

Defense Files

The Secretary of the British Chiefs of Staff (Hollis) to the Secretary, War Department General Staff (Smith)1
secret
Washington, January 3, 1942.

The British Chiefs of Staff have instructed me to say that they would be most grateful if the six United States ships now transporting the 18th British Division to the Far East could be retained in the Middle East–Far East Area for the purpose of taking more reinforcements to the South-West Pacific Area.

2. The British Chiefs of Staff would be most grateful if they could be informed of the decision on this matter as early as convenient, since the organisation of further convoys from the Middle East to the Far East cannot be proceeded with until a decision on this point is obtained.2

L. C. Hollis

Brigadier
  1. The memorandum, addressed to “The Secretariat, United States Chiefs of Staff”, was presumably delivered to the office of the Secretary, War Department General Staff. See the memorandum of December 24, 1941, by Hollis, ante, p. 267.↩
  2. See the discussion of this subject at the meeting on January 4, ante, p. 167.↩