851.01/982: Telegram
The Chargé in the United Kingdom ( Matthews ) to the Secretary of State
[Received 11:16 p.m.]
927. Your No. 729, February 3, 10 p.m. I delivered your message to Mr. Eden this afternoon. He said that he did not know to what particular recent propaganda stories you had reference but that he quite agreed many of the stories put out from Carlton Gardens73 are an irritant. He asked me to assure you that he would do what he can to stop them. He added that he did not know just what can be done to keep de Gaulle’s Headquarters quiet but he will have a talk with Charles Peake and see what steps can be taken. He said: “I am just as anxious as the President and Secretary Hull to stop this irritant, for it creates difficulties for me in the House and with the public.” I cited for him several instances of Carlton Gardens’ stories, notably (1) the one that Murphy and Giraud were pushing the Comte de Paris74 to head a unified set up, (2) the reports that Giraud never replied to any of de Gaulle’s questions without first looking at Murphy for his reactions (which General de Gaulle himself told his large staff meeting yesterday), and (3) the unfriendly articles appearing in each issue of de Gaulle’s Marseillaise.
He also said: “De Gaulle is making a speech tonight which my people have gone over and think is pretty good.”