740.00119 Control (Germany)/4–148: Telegram
The United States Political Adviser for Germany (Murphy) to the Secretary of State
urgent
748. Pesronal for Saltzman and Hickerson (Eyes Only). My 739, March 31.1 General Clay had three telecons yesterday afternoon and [Page 887] evening with Royall, Bradley, Collins and Chamberlain re action to be taken as result of Soviet demand for more intensive control our military train service into Berlin. I understand matter was referred by Army to Joint Chiefs of Staff and the President. End result was authorization to Clay to maintain same number US soldier guards and same weapons carbines as heretofore. Clay had proposed doubling guards. Guards will be ordered to prevent Soviet military from entering US military passenger trains but not to shoot unless first fired upon. In case of passenger trains, train commandant would supply Soviet authorities with list of names of passengers. In case of freight trains number of guards will be same as heretofore with similar instructions and train commandant would supply Soviet military with a manifest of freight cars. In case of highway traffic between Berlin and Helmstedt we would submit to identification of passengers and vehicles.
Accordingly, reply was sent to General Dratvin’s letter received yesterday to effect we could not accept Soviet demand but that we would be willing to have train commandant in case of passenger trains supply Soviet military authorities with lists of names of passengers and in case of freight trains train commandant would supply Soviets with manifest of freight carried. Also, that we would not object to an identification of vehicles and passengers in case of highway traffic between Berlin and Helmstedt.
[For the remainder of this telegram, see page 158.]
- Not printed: it reported that Lieutenant General Dratvin, Deputy Chief of the Soviet Military Administration for Germany, addressed a letter on March 30, 1948, to Major General Hays, Deputy United States Military Governor for Germany, explaining certain restrictive procedures on highway and railway travel for American personnel and cargo crossing the Soviet zone of occupation en route to Berlin. The new procedures were to go into effect on April 1 (800.515/3–3148). The texts of General Dratvin’s letter and Brigadier General Gailey’s reply of March 31, were transmitted in telegram 749, April 1, from Berlin, not printed (740.00119 Control (Germany)/4–148). For the full texts of these letters, see Documented Chronology, pp. 87 and 89. For extracts from these letters, see Germany 1947–1949, p. 202.↩