851A.00/46
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State
The British Ambassador25 called at my request. I referred to the substance of my press conference today, a transcript of which is hereto [Page 558] attached.26 I then said that it is very important to work out a solution to the matter of the Free French seizure of the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, so as to avoid a serious flare-up, which would have repercussions in many ways. I suggested that it might well be possible to get an agreement with Governor Robert26a at Martinique, approved by the Government at Vichy, to allow three or four experts of Canadian nationality to form a commission to supervise messages passing over the radio station on these islands; that if this could be done the British could then consider requesting the Free French to withdraw from these two islands, and Great Britain and Canada, in particular, could then praise very highly the part the Free French had taken by occupying the islands in securing this agreement for supervision. This would be a good face-saving proposition.
The Ambassador proceeded to talk for several minutes giving his reasons why nothing should be done about this occupation by either Great Britain, Canada or the United States. I replied that it is a choice, according to him, between ratifying the unlawful act of the Free French, which took place in absolute violation of their pledges to Great Britain, or the United States’ throwing overboard the entire problem of Vichy and French Africa which we have been nursing for a considerable period and without such efforts on our part Germany would probably be in occupation of north or west Africa, or both, now and during most of the past 12 months. The Ambassador then said he saw the force of that position. I replied that his Government was perhaps more interested, if possible, in the Vichy angle of this matter than the United States. He seemed agreeable to the idea of my discussing a proposed agreement with the French at Vichy with Prime Minister Mackenzie King, and if agreeable, Prime Minister Churchill could then be requested to join and carry out the part of Great Britain as above set forth.27 I thanked him and said I would give the matter attention later on in the day.
- Viscount Halifax.↩
- Not printed.↩
- Adm. Georges Robert, Governor of the French West Indies and Supreme Commander of the French Islands in the Western Hemisphere.↩
- Prime Minister Churchill was in Washington at the time. Correspondence regarding this Washington Conference is scheduled for publication in a subsequent volume of Foreign Relations.↩