740.0011 European War 1939/14693: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Leahy) to the Secretary of State
[Received 9 p.m.]
1135. Embassy’s telegrams Nos. 1056, August 20, 10 a.m., and 1057, August 20, 7 p.m.67 Rochat68 gave us a copy this morning of General Cunningham’s letter of August 30, to the Governor of the French Somali Coast and informed us that Henry-Haye had been instructed to approach the Department with reference to the situation at Djibouti and British policy with respect thereto. The French find [Page 593] General Cunningham’s letter both “brutal and uncalled for” particularly the threat of interning the authorities until the end of the war, and are considerably exercised over it as well as over the “British refusal” to permit foodstuffs to reach the colony from Madagascar. (Please see Embassy’s telegram No. 1107, August 29, 4 p.m.69) They state that it is absurd to think that any foodstuffs could in any way reach the German authorities. They think that British efforts are apparently designed solely to force the colony needlessly into dissidence and have no military justification. Those endeavoring to reach a better understanding with France’s former ally, Rochat says, feel that the episode may result in a setback to the recent favorable evolution in this respect.