740.00111A Recruiting/209: Telegram
The Minister in the Union of South Africa ( Keena ) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 10—2:54 p.m.]
37. I have been requested by the Prime Minister to inquire into the possibility of obtaining the services of American doctors and nurses for hospital work principally in Natal.
Under the present arrangements the sick and wounded from North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean area will be sent to Natal for hospitalization. The operation of this plan is only just beginning but General Smuts9a informs me that they are already encountering a serious shortage of doctors and trained nurses.
General Smuts suggested that possibly an American Red Cross corps could be formed in the United States and sent to South Africa to aid in this emergency.
- Jan Christian Smuts, Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa.↩