857.48/4–245
Memorandum by the Secretaries of the State-War-Navy
Coordinating Committee51
SWNCC 24/6
[Washington,] 7 April 1945.
Relief Shipments to Enemy-Occupied Territory
The enclosure, a draft of a letter to the Secretary of State from the
Secretaries of War and the Navy, as proposed by the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, is circulated for consideration by the Committee.
Charles W. McCarthy
Alvin F. Richardson
Raymond E. Cox
[Enclosure]
Draft Letter to the Secretary of State From the
Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy
Reference is made to your letter of 2 April 1945 in regard to the
shipment of supplies to German-held areas in Europe, particularly to
Norway and Holland.
From a military standpoint, the situation has changed since the time
of the previous letters to you expressing the effect of the shipment
of supplies to German-held areas in Europe. At that time the
question was rather one of the general supply of German-held Europe,
since there was no indication that the German troops themselves did
not have the necessary food for their maintenance. At the present
time, however, there is a fair prospect that the Germans may set up
islands of resistance, particularly in Holland and Norway. It is
clear that, if this is done, the German forces will have to rely
upon the food resources in those countries and that any food shipped
into such areas would contribute to those resources.
[Page 50]
In other words, as the situation now presents itself, the shipment of
food and other supplies to the areas in question may prolong German
resistance in those areas. The forces there may be of such number
that their quick reduction could be made only with large loss of
Allied life.
From a military standpoint, therefore, the Joint Chiefs of Staff are
of the opinion that it is inadvisable to ship supplies into
German-held portions of Holland and to increase the relief now going
to enemy-occupied Norway until organized resistance in those areas
has ended.
If the decision is made to ship in the supplies, it must be based on
political and humanitarian rather than military considerations.
