Office of the Historian

Roosevelt Papers

Memorandum by the Presidents Naval Aide (Brown)1

restricted
Washington, September 9, 1943—11:45 a.m.

Memorandum for File

In a telephone conversation between Rear Admiral Wilson Brown, U.S.N., and Captain R. W. Berry, U.S.N., Deputy Director of Public Relations, Navy Department, Captain Berry agreed to arrange with Mr. Elmer Davis, Director of Office of War Information, for the release of the joint anti-submarine statement exactly as proposed originally by the Prime Minister,2 subject to the following conditions:

(a)
The statement to be issued as from the two governments rather than from the President and the Prime Minister.3
(b)
The exact text to be cabled to London.
(c)
The time of release to be arranged by Mr. Davis and London.

W. Brown

Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy
Naval Aide to the President
  1. A copy of this memorandum was sent to Churchill’s Principal Private Secretary (Martin).↩
  2. See ante, p. 1301.↩
  3. Filed with this memorandum is a copy of a press release by the Office of War Information (OWI–2476) for release at 7:30 p.m., Eastern War Time, September 10, 1943, which (except for minor editorial changes) is identical with the four numbered paragraphs suggested in Alexander’s telegram of September 4, 1943 (see ante, p. 1301). In lieu of a heading the final release has the following introductory paragraph: “The following statement is issued by the Office of War Information and the British Ministry of Information after consultation with the British Admiralty, United States Navy Department, and Canadian Department of National Defense for Naval Services:”.↩