Foreign Relations of the United States, Conferences at Washington and Quebec, 1943

J.C.S. Files

Memorandum by the Secretariat of the Combined Civil Affairs Committee¹

secret

[Washington, August 21, 1943.]

Minutes of Meeting² Held in Room 4 E 859, Office of Assistant Secretary of War, on Saturday, 21 August 1943, at 1500³

Members Present
Maj. Gen. J. H. Hilldring (Acting Chairman)	Col. G. A. Rickards
Mr. J. Wesley Jones (Rept’g Mr. James C. Dunn)	Mr. R. E. Barclay (Rept’g Sir Ronald Campbell)
Captain H. L. Pence, USN
Others Present
Col. David Marcus	Captain C. K. Lloyd
Major C. C. Hilliard	Lt. Col. C. A. de Linde
Mr. William H. Taylor	Sir David Waley
Lt. (jg) F. F. Fowle, USNR
Secretariat
Col. R. J. Laux (Acting)	Major C. W. Garnett

1. Surrender Terms for Italy ( C.C.S. 258⁴ and 258/1⁵)

General Hilldring stated that there were the following three documents before the Committee for their consideration and approval:

a. A comprehensive document containing all the surrender terms for Italy entitled Draft Instrument of Surrender of Italy,⁶ upon which U.S. and British authorities are in general agreement.

b. A document containing the political, economic and fiscal conditions of surrender to supplement the military terms now in General Eisenhower’s possession entitled Additional Conditions To Be Imposed Upon the Italian Government,⁷ upon which U.S. and British authorities are not entirely in agreement.

c. A document to serve as a guide to General Eisenhower in effecting and implementing the terms of surrender entitled Directive on Military Government of Continental Italy and Sardinia,⁸ upon which U.S. and British authorities are not in agreement.

The Committee proceeded to take up the Draft Instrument of Surrender of Italy.

Mr. Barclay suggested the following changes in this document:

a. That the words “And whereas the U.S. and U.K. on the basis of unconditional surrender” at the beginning of the second paragraph of the Preamble be changed to read as follows: “And whereas the U.S. and U.K. Governments on behalf of the United Nations.”

b. That there be deleted from Article 22⁹ the second sentence which reads as follows:

“The Italian Government will take all such measures as may be necessary to prevent strikes and lockouts, incitements to strike, or participation in labor disputes in all cases where these acts would be detrimental to the interests of the United Nations.”

Mr. Taylor called attention to the fact that the second sentence of Article 23, and in particular the words “free of cost”¹⁰ in this sentence, where[were] final and unequivocal and would prohibit the possibility of negotiations between the Italian Government and the United Nations. The sentence in question reads as follows:

“The Italian Government will withdraw and redeem in Italian currency within such time limits and on such terms as the United Nations may specify all holdings in Italian territory of currencies issued by the United Nations during military operations or occupation and will hand over the currencies so withdrawn free of cost to the United Nations.”

After discussion concerning the suggested alterations in Draft Instrument of Surrender of Italy,

The Committee:—

Agreed,

a. That the words “And whereas the U.S. and U.K. on the basis of unconditional surrender” at the beginning of the second paragraph of the Preamble should be amended to read: “And whereas the U.S. and U.K. Governments on behalf of the United Nations.”

b. That the second sentence of Article 22 be deleted.

c. That the second sentence of Article 23 stand in its present form.

d. That the document, Draft Instrument of Surrender of Italy, as amended in paragraphs a, b, and c, above, is approved.¹¹

The Committee then proceeded to discuss the document entitled Additional Conditions To Be Imposed Upon the Italian Government.

Mr. Barclay stated that comments from London on this document had not been received and that therefore no final action could be taken by the British Members.

Captain Lloyd made the following suggestions with respect to this document:

a. That there should be a Preamble at the beginning and a place for signatures at the end of the document.

b. That the second sentence of Article 19 should be deleted.

The sentence is as follows:

“The Italian Government will take all such measures as may be necessary to prevent strikes and lockouts, incitements to strike, or, participation in labor disputes in all cases where these acts would be detrimental to the interests of the United Nations.”¹²

c. That Article 21 b should be deleted and Article 21 a should become Article 21.

Article 21 b reads as follows:

“b. The Italian Government will immediately surrender all documents, specie, stocks, shares, paper money, together with the plants for the issue thereof, affecting public or private interests in all occupied countries, and all enemy countries.”¹³

d. That there appears to be some inconsistency between Article 6, which provides for suspension of powers of the Italian Government in all occupied areas, and Article 17, which provides that local administrative authorities and public services will continue to function.

Mr. Jones, referring to Articles 7 and 8 a of this document and Article 8 of the draft Directive on Military Government of Continental Italy and Sardinia, stated that it seemed inconsistent that the Directive provides for the suspension of all prerogatives of the Crown, whereas the Additional Conditions To Be Imposed Upon the Italian Government contains no such provision.

Mr. Barclay stated that while it would no doubt be true that the powers of the Crown would be suspended in occupied areas, he very much doubted whether London would accept any such provision with regard to unoccupied areas. He stated further that he anticipated that the British authorities in London might ask for deletion of Article 8a.

Captain Lloyd made the following additional suggestions with respect to the Additional Conditions To Be Imposed Upon the Italian Government:

a. That Article 14 referring to Italian shipping be amended to include all Axis shipping.

b. That there be included in this document an Article similar to Article 1 c of the Draft Instrument of Surrender of Italy, providing that the Italian supreme command will order all persons or authorities to refrain from destruction of or damage to any property.

After discussion with respect to the suggested changes in the Additional Conditions To Be Imposed Upon the Italian Government,

The Committee:—

Agreed,

a. That the document include a preamble relating it to the military terms of surrender, and a place for signatures of the signatory parties.

b. That the second sentence of Article 19 should be deleted.

c. That the Article 21. b should be deleted and Article 21. a should become Article 21.

d. That further consideration would be given by both British and U.S. authorities to the questions raised with respect to Articles 6, 8 a and 17, concerning the suspension of the powers of the Italian Government and the prerogatives of the Crown.

e. That Article 14 relating to Italian shipping should be amended to include all Axis shipping.

f. That a provision should be added similar to Article 1 c of Draft Instrument of Surrender of Italy, providing that the Italian supreme command will order all persons and authorities to refrain from the destruction of or damage to property.¹⁴

g. That the amendments and questions referred to above would be cleared informally by the Secretaries.

General Hilldring stated that all differences as to Additional Conditions To Be Imposed Upon the Italian Government should be settled quickly and informally in order that this document, together with the Draft of Surrender of Italy, and statements as to the advantages and disadvantages of each document, may be forwarded to the Combined Chiefs of Staff for their decision as to which of the documents should be used.

Mr. Barclay recommended that the views of the British and U.S. Members as to the advantages and disadvantages of the two documents be combined in a single memorandum to accompany the documents when they are forwarded to the Combined Chiefs of Staff.

The Committee:—

Agreed,

That a joint note should be prepared, setting forth the views of the British and American authorities with respect to the two documents, to be forwarded to the Combined Chiefs of Staff with the documents themselves.¹⁵

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1. Corrections circulated in a later corrigendum have been made in the memorandum as printed here.
2. C.C.A.C. Special Meeting, which took the place of the 6th Meeting in the numbered sequence of meetings of the Combined Civil Affairs Committee.
3. i.e., at 3 p.m.
4. “Surrender Terms for Italy and Draft Declaration and Proclamation”, June 16, 1943; not printed.
5. Surrender Terms for Italy and Draft Declaration and Proclamation”, July 1, 1943; not printed.
6. The draft before the Combined Civil Affairs Committee on August 21, 1943, was a revision of the paper sent to Roosevelt on August 3, printed ante, p. 538.
7. The draft before the Combined Civil Affairs Committee on August 21, 1943, was a revision of the paper of August 19, printed ante, p. 602. See ante, pp. 601–602.
8. Not printed.
9. Cf. article 23 of the draft sent to Roosevelt on August 3, 1943, ante, p. 543.
10. Cf. article 24 of the draft sent to Roosevelt on August 3, 1943, ante, p. 543.
11. For the text of this instrument as dispatched to Eisenhower on August 26, 1943, following approval by Roosevelt and Churchill, see post, p. 1161.
12. See ante, p. 606.
13. See ante, p. 607.
14. Concerning the text of the “additional” or “further” terms as it stood on August 23, 1943, following the incorporation into it of these and further changes, see ante, p. 602.
15. See post, p. 1089, fn. 6.