823.24/12–1844
Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. M. K. Wells, Division of North and West Coast Affairs
I took advantage of Dr. Garland’s39 call on another matter to refer to the Peruvian Lend-Lease request for ammunition which was mentioned [Page 1518] by Ambassador Beltrán in conversation with Mr. Armour on November 20. (This request, covering estimated 1945 ammunition requirements for the Peruvian army, was addressed to the War Department by Colonel Tamayo, Chief of the Peruvian Military Commission, under date of November 16.)
I told Dr. Garland that the Department had learned informally that it would not be possible to allocate this ammunition to Peru at the present time due to the serious shortage of ammunition on the European front; that I was sure he was aware of this latter fact from newspaper accounts; and that he would understand the Department is hardly in a position to support the request at this time because of these well known circumstances.
Dr. Garland indicated that he fully appreciated the situation and realized that rejection of the Peruvian request did not carry any political significance, but was based upon real shortage on the fighting fronts. He remarked that as a matter of fact, Ambassador Beltran, in agreeing to Colonel Tamayo’s request that he bring the matter to the Department’s attention, had expressed the opinion that favorable consideration would not be possible because of the very situation which I had mentioned.
- Eduardo Garland, Peruvian Counselor of Embassy in Washington.↩