Office of the Historian

861.20 Missions/8–2645: Telegram

The Chief of the United States Military Mission in the Soviet Union (Deane) to the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Moscow, 26 August 1945.
[Received August 27.]

M 25421. When all hostilities have ceased and military control of enemy and enemy occupied territory has been established, it is believed that the United States Military Mission to the USSR should be discontinued as soon as practicable and its activities transferred to those agencies which normally carry them out under peacetime conditions. The Soviet authorities have always regarded the presence of both the United States and British Military Missions as wartime measures. In the case of the British, the Soviets have already indicated their expectation that the British Military Mission will soon be discontinued.

I believe that if we take the initiative in recalling the Military Mission and reverting to a peacetime status our peacetime agencies will get off to a better start in the Soviet Union. However, current negotiations with the Red Army General Staff regarding military control of Japan should be completed by the Military Mission.

I recommend that the Joint Chiefs of Staff give immediate approva to the following program:

1
—For planning purposes, the date of discontinuance of the US Military Mission to the USSR is set at 31 October 1945 (with the understanding that this date may have to be extended, depending upon developments in the Far East).33
2
—The US Naval Attaché’s office in the USSR, which has remained in existence throughout the war under the Military Mission, will revert to its independent status when the Mission is disbanded.
3
—The Navy Department will conclude arrangements with the WSA34 in Washington with regard to the maintenance of US Naval personnel as WSA representatives at Soviet ports.
4
—The activities of the Supply Division of the United States Military Mission will be transferred to the United States Embassy in Moscow as soon as practicable with its records and part of its personnel.
5
—The United States Military Attaché’s office will open simultaneously with the discontinuance of the United States Military Mission. This is in consonance with a recommendation already made to the State Department by the Ambassador.34a
6
—A final report covering the activities of the United States Military Mission will be rendered to the Joint Chiefs of Staff with copies to the War and Navy Department.
7
—The United States Military Mission will deal direct with the War and Navy Departments in carrying out the details of this program.

The Ambassador concurs in the above.

[Deane]
  1. In his book. The Strange Alliance: The Story of Our Efforts at Wartime Co-operation With Russia (New York, The Viking Press, 1947), General Deane states: “… I recommended that ours should depart from the Soviet Union before it was invited to do so. Accordingly we closed our offices on October 31, 1945, and American representation in Moscow was restored to our Military and Naval Attachés” (p. 285). Regarding establishment of the Military Mission, see telegram 934, October 1, 1943, to Moscow, Foreign Relations, 1943, vol. iii, p. 704.↩
  2. War Shipping Administration.↩
  3. In telegram M 25424, August 27, from Moscow, General Deane advised that this final sentence should be shifted to recommendation 4.↩