Office of the Historian

853F.00/8–1745

Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Western European Affairs (Culbertson)38

[Washington,] August 17, 1945.

Dr. Garin39 informed me on Wednesday40 that the Portuguese Foreign Office had been informed by the British Ambassador that the British approved the Portuguese request to send warships to the Far East in order to take over Portuguese control of Timor. The British authorization was for these warships to proceed to Colombo.

A radio news item this morning stated that the Japs have announced that arrangements have been made with the Portuguese to turn over control of Portuguese territory to the Portuguese authorities. Dr. Garin has no information on this news item.

P[aul] T. C[ulbertson]
  1. Addressed to Director of the Office of European Affairs Matthews and Assistant Secretary of State Dunn.↩
  2. Yaseo Vieira Garin, Counselor of the Portuguese Embassy.↩
  3. August 15.↩