855.24/3–2045
The Counselor of the British Embassy (Marris) to the Assistant Secretary of State (Clayton)
Dear Mr. Clayton: I am writing to acknowledge your letter dated February 19, 1945, about the progress of the supply situation in Belgium.
His Majesty’s Government are of course anxious to do everything they can to facilitate the lifting of Belgian supplies located in the United Kingdom, the Congo and elsewhere as far as shipping can be made available. As regards the possibility of drawing upon stocks in the United Kingdom nearly 800,000 tons of food, apart from raw materials and large quantities of coal, have already been made available or earmarked for the use of SHAEF, National Government and UNRRA20 programmes. The particular case of emergency steps taken to meet SHAEF’s deficiency of food for arrival in Belgium in March and April has already been dealt with in exchange of telegrams between the Prime Minister and the President.21 His Majesty’s Government [Page 94] are meeting a large part of this deficiency from United Kingdom stocks as there is no time to meet the demand from any other source but in some cases immediate replacement of foodstuffs and provision ships to carry them will be required.
As you are aware, the requirements of the European Liberated countries and occupied Germany for food supplies are increasing rapidly. The problem of transport of these requirements is a very large one. How far and in what manner they can be met from our combined resources will call for high policy decisions on the part of the two Governments.
Yours sincerely,
- United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.↩
- For text of President Roosevelt’s telegram dated February 28 and Prime Minister Churchill’s reply in telegram 902, March 2, and the President’s 712, March 10, 1945, to the Prime Minister, see vol. ii, pp. 1072, and 1076.↩