Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, The Conferences at Cairo and Tehran, 1943

J. C. S. Files

Report by the Combined Chiefs of Staff

secret
C. C. S. 423/2

[Cairo,] 5 December 1943.

Operations in the European Theater

1. Overlord and Anvil are the supreme operations for 1944. They must be carried out during May 1944. Nothing must be undertaken in any other part of the world which hazards the success of these two operations.

2. Overlord as at present planned is on a narrow margin. Everything practicable should be done to increase its strength.

3. The examination of Anvil on the basis of not less than a two-division assault should be pressed forward as fast as possible. If the examination reveals that it requires strengthening, consideration will have to be given to the provision of additional resources.

4. Operations in the Aegean, including in particular the capture of Rhodes, are desirable, provided that they can be fitted in without detriment to Overlord and Anvil.

5. Every effort must be made by accelerated building and conversion, to provide the essential additional landing craft for the European Theater.

6. The decisions made by the Combined Chiefs of Staff at the Quadrant Conference covering the bombing of German industrial targets and the destruction of the German air force, as set forth in paragraph 10 of C. C. S. 319/5,¹ are reaffirmed.

Operations in Southeast Asia Theater

views of u.s. chiefs of staff	views of british chiefs of staff
7. Political and military considerations and commitments make it essential that Operation Tarzan and an amphibious operation in conjunction therewith should take place. Apart from political considerations, there will he serious military repercussions if this is not done, not only in Burma and China, but also in the Southwest Pacific.	7. We fully realize that there are political and military implications in the postponement of Buccaneer. As regards the political implications, we must leave these to be taken into consideration by the President and Prime Minister. As regards the military disadvantages, these are overridden by the far greater advantages to be derived from a successful invasion of the Continent, and the collapse of Germany.
8. The Supreme Commander, Southeast Asia Command, should be told that he must do the best that he can with the resources already allocated to him.

1. C. C. S. 319/5 was the final report by the Combined Chiefs of Staff to the President and the Prime Minister at the First Quebec Conference (August 1943). Paragraph 10 (printed in Ehrman, vol. v, pp. 8–9) gave the highest strategic priority to the Combined Bomber Offensive against Germany as a prerequisite to the mounting of Overlord. The records of the First Quebec Conference are scheduled to be published subsequently in another volume of the Foreign Relations series.