811.248/805: Telegram
The Minister in Ireland (Gray) to the Secretary of State
[Received 11:25 a.m.]
253. Greatly appreciate your kind approval reference your 157, December 10, 6 p.m. Pursuant to your suggestion in your 154 of December 8, 7 p.m., I am accepting a letter from Walshe of External Affairs which is a memorandum of the conversation reported in my 239 of December 1, 2 p.m., instead of an exchange of notes as an aide-mémoire of our understanding. This will be forwarded by air courier as soon as received.
My reason for appearing to lay emphasis on your reluctance to accept internment as [a matter?] of course for groundings during operational flights was mainly to induce construction of doubtful cases as nonoperational. The Irish Government wishes to avoid trouble of this kind and the belief that we might take a strong line is salutary.