Moscow Embassy Files: Lot F–96
The American Chargé in the Soviet Union (Henderson) to the People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union (Molotov)
Excellency: I have the honor to inform you that I have been instructed to transmit the following message dated November 19, 1942, from President Roosevelt to Premier Stalin.
“I am glad you have been so kind to General Hurley As you, can well recognize, I have had a problem in persuading the people of Australia and New Zealand that the menace of Japan can be most effectively met by destroying the Nazis first. General Hurley will be able to tell them at first hand how you and Churchill and I are in complete agreement on this.
“Our recent battles in the Southwest Pacific make the position there more secure even though we have not yet eliminated attempts by the Japanese to extend their southward drive.4
“The American and British staffs are now studying further moves in the event that we secure the whole south shore of the Mediterranean from Gibraltar to Syria. Before any further step is taken, both [Page 663] Churchill and I want to consult with you and your staff, because whatever we do next in the Mediterranean will have a definite bearing on your magnificent campaign and your proposed moves this coming winter.
“I do not have to tell you to keep up the good work. You are doing that, and I honestly feel that things everywhere look brighter.
“With my warm regards,
Roosevelt”
Accent [etc.]
- Another letter, No. L–19, of November 26, 1942, from President Roosevelt told Stalin that the Japanese had been hit very hard in the Solomons, and that “we are going to press our advantages.” There was hope that the Germans would soon be driven out of Africa, “and then we will give the Italians a taste of some real bombing, and I am quite sure they will never stand up under that kind of pressure.” (Moscow Embassy Files: Lot F–96.)↩