740.0011 European War 1939/31337
Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, to the Secretary of State
My Dear Mr. Secretary: Replying to your letter of 1 September 1943, inquiring as to the military aspects of the proposal of a Finnish diplomatic official, the following are the views of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:
According to the latest estimates of Axis strength on the Finnish front the German forces total seven divisions and the Finnish, thirteen divisions and seven brigades. These are containing a Russian force estimated at approximately 450,000 men and two hundred planes.
Inasmuch as the Finnish proposal would permit the withdrawal from Finland of the seven German divisions, aggregating about 150,000 [Page 296] men, for use on other fronts, the number of Russian troops that would be available for use elsewhere would be correspondingly decreased to about 300,000. This number would be still further decreased if the Russians should divert forces for the military occupation of Finland.
The suggestions of the Finnish representative that his Government would doubtless wish to make the offer contingent on Allied entry into northern Norway, proposes a commitment that, as implied in your letter, should not be accepted by the United States. As to the further suggestion of the employment of Anglo-American troops for the dual purpose of assisting in the ejection of German troops from Finland and affording insurance against Russian entry into that country, it may be said that, aside from other weighty objections to such action, the task suggested would be impracticable from a military standpoint. Logistic factors alone would preclude its accomplishment.
The Finnish front at present is relatively quiet. Russia is in the best position to evaluate the military benefit to Allied strength that would result from the withdrawal of Finland from the war, and it is also the Power most directly concerned in the solution of the question. Such influence as the United States may be able to exert in the determination of a formula for that solution, must be derived from sources other than that of Anglo-American military intervention in Finland.23
- In a letter to Admiral Leahy, September 25, the Secretary of State informed him that the Finnish Government was being informed through the Finnish Minister in Stockholm that the United States Government could not, from a military standpoint, meet the requirements of the Finnish proposal.↩