Roosevelt Papers: Telegram

Prime Minister Churchill to President Roosevelt1

top secret

Prime Minister to President Roosevelt. Personal and Top Secret. Number 719.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2. I earnestly hope you will take all these2 into consideration and then let me know what you think. A meeting will have to be arranged unless agreement can be reached by correspondence. I agree with you that a deadlock on fundamental questions of strategy would be a cruel injury to our soldiers, who are now fighting so vehemently side by side. [Page 9] For this reason a careful and patient discussion is indispensable and not an over-riding decision by either side.3

  1. Sent by the United States Military Attaché, London, via Army channels.
  2. Churchill, by “all these”, meant a series of messages about the mounting of Operation Anvii and possible alternative uses for the forces available in the Mediterranean. For the fullest expression of Churchill’s views as contained in these messages, see Churchill, Triumph and Tragedy, pp. 716–721.
  3. Roosevelt’s reply to this message, dated June 29, 1944, does not allude to the desirability of a meeting with Churchill. For text, see Churchill, Triumph and Tragedy, pp. 721–723.