740.00119 EAC/5–1745: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 17—1:45 p.m.]
4921. Comea 253. My 4783, May 13, 1 a.m., Comea 241 to Department; repeated to Paris as 259. Yesterday in reviewing with Mosely the US proposal concerning the French zone in Germany de Leusse asked why the Kreis of Oberwesterwald had not been included in the bridgehead east of the Rhine River near Koblenz and pointed out that the addition of this district to the French area would fill an awkward gap between the proposed bridgehead and the area of the Bezirk of Koblenz which has been offered by the Brit for French occupation.
A preliminary survey made here on the basis of detailed War Department studies shows that Kreis Oberwesterwald contains no major railways, only 90 miles of local railways, no autobahn, no industry, and no electric power station of more than a local importance. Preliminary study also suggests that the transfer of this one additional district to French control would simplify local lines of communication within both the American and the French zones. I would appreciate your consulting as a matter of urgency, the appropriate SHAEF authorities who drafted the zone plan of May 3, to inform me of any objection from the military point of view to offering to include this district in the French zone if it should appear that such an offer will expedite agreement.
Sent to Paris as my 275 (for Ambassador Murphy).