740.00114A European War 1939/335: Telegram
The Ambassador in Turkey (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 23—5:51 p.m.]
756. My 547, March 24, and 744, April 19.26 German Government has thus far withheld its consent to proposal for release of all of the interned aviators, apparently because number of Allied internees exceeds number of Axis internees. As a result Foreign Office, which considered matter settled, has recently shown considerable irritation with Germans. In consequence I regard the most recent escape as unlikely to prejudice release of all of the aviators should German consent ultimately be forthcoming. In meantime the more of our aviators who escape the more likely it will be that German Government will give its consent to proposal to release those still interned.
- Latter not printed; it reported the escape of two American aviators (740.00114A European War 1939/332).↩