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

J.C.S. Files

Proposals by the Combined Staff Planners¹

secret
C.C.S. 233/1

[Washington,] May 17, 1943.

Trident Conference

Tentative Program of Work

1. We submit the following tentative program of work. It is based on the assumption that the Combined Chiefs of Staff will have a full discussion on the “statement of agreed essentials” on Monday, 17 May. Thereafter, the program should be broadly as set out below.

Tuesday 18th	1. The Defeat of Germany
		a. A United States paper on the bomber offensive against Germany.2
		b. Plan for the defeat of Germany by concentrating on the biggest possible invasion force in the United Kingdom as soon as possible.
and			Paper under preparation by U.S. Planners in consultation with the British.3
		c. Plan for the defeat of Germany accepting the elimination of Italy as a necessary preliminary.
			Paper under preparation by the British Planners in consultation with the U.S.4
Wednesday 19th		d. The possibility of an air offensive against Ploeşti. Paper under preparation by the Combined Staff Planners.5
Thursday 20th	2. The Defeat of Japan
		a. A paper showing proposals for operations in the Pacific is under preparation by the United States Staffs.6
		b. The potentialities of the air route from Assam to China.
			Paper under preparation by the Combined Staff Planners.7
		c. Study of the most promising operation for opening a land route to China.
			Paper under preparation by the Combined Staff Planners.8
Friday 21st	3. The U-Boat Campaign (Discussion)
	4. Rearming of French Forces in North Africa
	5. Turkish Situation (General Discussion)
	6. Miscellaneous Items Arising During the Week
Saturday 22nd	7. Relation of Resources to Agreed Strategy With Particular Reference to Shipping and Landing Craft Although these problems will be considered in the discussion on all the various plans for the defeat of Germany and the defeat of Japan, it will not be possible to collate a paper on the subject until all these various plans have been discussed. Once Items 2 and 3 have been cleared out of the way, the Combined Staff Planners will have to prepare a paper on this subject relating resources to agreed strategy.
Sunday 23rd	8. Global Strategy: Final Consideration
Monday 24th	9. Final Report to the President and the Prime Minister This report is visualized as including agreed statements on global strategy, and on existing and projected undertakings arranged if possible in order of priority.

1. At their meeting on May 15, 1943, the Combined Chiefs of Staff directed the Combined Staff Planners to prepare a draft agenda for the remainder of the Conference in the light of the discussion which had taken place; see item 2 of the record of that meeting, ante, p. 79. At their meeting on May 17, 1943, the Combined Chiefs of Staff considered and approved the draft agenda prepared by the Combined Staff Planners (C.C.S. 233, May 16, 1943, not printed), subject to certain changes incorporated in the revised version printed here. See item 6 of the 86th meeting of the Combined Chiefs of Staff, ante, p. 94.
2. C.C.S. 217, May 14, 1943, post, p. 239.
3. The paper under reference was circulated as C.C.S. 235, May 18, 1943, post, p. 273.
4. The paper under reference was circulated as C.C.S. 234, May 17, 1943, post, p. 261.
5. No combined paper on this subject was circulated to the Combined Chiefs of Staff. For the early planning for the air attack of August 1, 1943, against Ploeşti, see Dugan and Stewart, Ploesti, pp. 36–39.
6. See C.C.S. 239/1, May 23, 1943, post, p. 302.
7. The paper under reference, C.C.S. 229, May 19, 1943, is not printed.
8. The paper under reference, C.C.S. 231, May 19, 1943, is not printed.