701.6111/1141: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Standley) to the Secretary of State
[Received 6:44 p.m.]
307. Henderson26 advises me that at the time of his departure two Soviet couriers had been waiting for some time to obtain air accommodations from Washington to Kuibyshev via Africa. In view of the great importance of maintaining the regular mail communications between the Embassy and Washington which have now been satisfactorily established and of the possibility that the Soviet authorities may retaliate for any protracted delay encountered by their couriers by failing to provide Embassy courier accommodations on the now vital Kuibyshev–Tehran airline, I strongly recommend that the Department, if the Soviet couriers have not yet received accommodations, can make vigorous representations to the Ferry Command. I also recommend that the Department assist the Soviet Embassy in every way possible in its reported plan involving the despatch of two Soviet couriers every other month between Kuibyshev and Washington and that it endeavor to make definite arrangements with the Ferry Command in this regard.
I would appreciate being kept informed of developments on this subject.
- Loy W. Henderson had left Washington and arrived in Moscow on August 12, 1942, coming as a Foreign Service Inspector; he became temporarily Counselor of Embassy and then Chargé d’Affaires in October.↩