740.0011 European War 1939/14012: Telegram
The Consul General at Beirut (Engert) to the Secretary of State
[Received 10:05 p.m.]
333. Exchange of letters mentioned in my telegram 332, August 15, 11 a.m., was the outcome of recent conversations between Lyttelton and de Gaulle in Beirut in order to convince the latter of the good faith of the British Government and if possible to prevent further reckless observations such as he made to me on August 5 and reported in my 323.38
It may amuse the Department to learn that General Wilson claims he found de Gaulle much more reasonable and tractable after I had my chat with him but I doubt whether the present extraordinary [Page 783] complexity of the daily contacts between the British and French political and military authorities in the Levant States can in the near future be expected to become less acute.