Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, The American Republics, Volume VIII

835.34/11–2847

Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Special Inter-American Affairs (Dreier) to the Chief of the Division of River Plate Affairs (Tewksbury)

top secret

[Washington,] November 28, 1947.

From some top secret telegrams in BC, concerning British arms sales, I learned the following:

1. As of November 14, 1947, the British had contracted to sell 100 Meteor 4’s (jet fighters) to Argentina, of which 12 had been delivered, 38 more were scheduled for delivery in March, and the balance in September, 1948. They had also sold 3 Derwent–5 aircraft engines and a license for the manufacture thereof.

2. On November 8, Ambassador Douglas²² reported that Bevin had said he had stopped all further arms sales to Argentina and would do nothing more until he had had a personal talk on the subject with Secretary Marshall.

. . . . . . .

John C. Dreier

22. Lewis W. Douglas, Ambassador in the United Kingdom.