740.00119 EW/8–2543: Telegram

The British Foreign Secretary ( Eden ) to the British Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs ( Sargent )1

most secret
important

President and Prime Minister are now agreed on text of comprehensive instrument for text of which see my telegram No. [blank.]

Please telegraph this to H. M. Ambassador in Lisbon,3 instructing him that if and when Italians return, it should be given to them with the explanation that this document embodies the points already handed [Page 1091] to them4 and also contains the additional points which they were warned to expect.5

Combined Chiefs of Staff are sending text to General Eisenhower,6 with similar instructions, in case Italians get into direct touch with his Headquarters.

  1. The source text indicates that this message was to be sent to the War Cabinet Office in London as a telegram in the Welfare series. The text was probably made available to the United States Delegation at Quebec on about August 23, 1943. Cf. ante, p. 951.
  2. Cadogan informed Dunn on August 23, 1943, that this message had been sent. See ante, p. 951. The British Foreign Office forwarded Eden’s instructions to the British Ambassador in Portugal (Campbell) on August 25, 1943 (740.00119 EW/8–2543).
  3. Sir Ronald Hugh Campbell.
  4. i.e., the “short” or “military” armistice terms.
  5. See ante, p. 566.
  6. The “long” or “comprehensive” terms were not sent to Eisenhower by the Combined Chiefs of Staff until August 26, 1943. See post, p. 1161.