Office of the Historian

800.796/783: Telegram

The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant) to the Secretary of State

London, May 5, 1944—8 p.m.
[Received May 5—8 p.m.]

3691. For Assistant Secretary Berle and Burden, Yesterday Sir Stafford Cripps took up with me the Department’s message 3295 of April 25, 4 p.m. He hoped very much that the decision of the Joint Chiefs of Staff could be amended to permit the conference to proceed as agreed. He is sending Sir Robert Watson-Watt to see me on this subject and plans to have him go on to the United States.

I am very certain that without the background of technical exchange which could be accomplished by these discussions, any effort to convene an international civil aviation conference as planned would be seriously handicapped.

I wish you would discuss this matter with Edward L. Bowles who is assistant to Secretary Stimson2 in charge of these matters as well as acting as advisor to General Arnold.3 I explained the situation to him when he was in London recently and he told me he would gladly cooperate.

I believe it would help to get Theodore Wright’s4 judgement as he is also fully informed.

Winant
  1. Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War.↩
  2. Gen. Henry H. Arnold, Commanding General, U.S. Army Air Forces.↩
  3. Theodore P. Wright, member of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.↩