740.00119 Control (Japan)/1–2246
The Acting Secretary of State to the Australian Minister (Eggleston)
The Acting Secretary of State presents his compliments to the Honorable the Minister of Australia and has the honor to refer to a letter dated January 15, 1946, addressed to the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff by Lieutenant General J. D. Lavarack, with which was enclosed a copy of the announcement proposed to be made by the various participating British Commonwealth Governments in connection with the formation and despatch to Japan of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force. By this letter a request is made that approval of this announcement be given by the United States Government.
After consultation with the military and naval authorities concerned, the Acting Secretary is now pleased to state that the proposed announcement as enclosed with the letter above referred to is agreeable to the United States Government subject to the following conditions and minor alterations:
- 1.
- It is considered important by the United States that no announcement be made public until after the receipt by the Department of State of the formal acceptance of the Australian Government to the arrangements agreed upon between General MacArthur and Lieutenant General Northcott as to the basis on which the British Commonwealth Occupation Force will proceed to and participate in the occupation of Japan;
- 2.
- The United States Government reserves the right to make simultaneous, but not necessarily identical, announcements from the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers in Japan and from Washington regarding the participation of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in the occupation of Japan. The United States Government wishes to be consulted sufficiently in advance of any announcement by the British Commonwealth Governments concerned to enable it to arrange for these simultaneous releases.
- 3.
- It is requested that the final clause of paragraph five of the proposed announcement be corrected to read: “under operational control of the Admiral commanding the detachment of the United States Fleet”; and
- 4.
- The United States Government would prefer that, with regard to the area of the employment of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force mentioned in paragraph nine, the press release be confined to a statement that the British Commonwealth Occupation Force will be located initially in the Hiroshima Prefecture including the cities of Kure and Fukuyama.