Roosevelt Papers
The Chief of Staff of the Army (Marshall) to the Presidents Chief of Staff (Leahy)1
Memorandum for Admiral Leahy:
The following is a first trial at a draft of a message regarding the subject of Russian participation in the Combined Chiefs of Staff conferences. You will recall that the other day I was opposed to a formal joining up by the Russians with our Chiefs of Staff organization, first, because I felt certain the Russians would feel that we were endeavoring to penetrate their strategical and operational plans, and further, that it would be next to impossible to reach final decisions with such a variegated group. My view is to make a small beginning, and very definitely on the basis that we are not asking for anything from the Russians in the way of information but are offering them virtually a complete insight into all of our strategical and logistical doings.
The following is the proposed message from the President to the Prime Minister:
[The proposed message which follows at this point was sent as Roosevelt’s telegram 397, October 26, 1943, to Churchill, printed post, p. 42, with the changes indicated in footnotes 2 and 3.]
Chief of Staff
King should have a shot at this before final consideration. G. C. M.2
- This memorandum bears in the upper right-hand corner a penciled notation, in Leahy’s handwriting, which appears to read: “Tell Marshall (a) if Stalin comes to Basra (b) if he does not come to conf & sends Molitof to a meeting in Cairo msg [message] to be sent immed[iately] after U J. is heard from”.↩
- The postscript was handwritten.↩