Foreign Relations of the United States, 1949, The Near East, South Asia, and Africa, Volume VI

ON Files, Lot 60 D 641

¹

Memorandum of the Secretary of State’s Press and Radio News Conference²

[Extract]

[Washington,] April 20, 1949.

No. 16

Greek Army

At his press and radio news conference this morning, Secretary Acheson said that he thought that his reply to a question last Wednesday³ might have created a wrong impression and might have been unfair to somebody. He continued that the answer was correct and complete to the best of his knowledge at that time but was not altogether complete in view of what he now knew. The Secretary explained that he was asked whether Mr. Bevin talked with him when he was here about increasing the size of the Greek Army and he replied that he had no memory of any such discussion at all. Secretary Acheson declared that Mr. Bevin did not discuss with him increasing the size of the Greek Army but left at the State Department, among several other memoranda, a memorandum by some division or group in the British Army on the general subject of the organization of the Greek Army. He said that this memorandum was turned over by him without study to experts in that field. He continued that he had been told that the memorandum recommended an increase in some branches, and a decrease in others, and overall a slight net increase but that the matter had not yet come back to him. He went on to say that, as the correpondents knew, the view of this Government was against increasing the size of the Greek Army. He concluded that he thought that the matter was of no importance and said that he only mentioned it so that no one might think that he had attempted to be sharp in answering or to mislead anybody.

Asked about the present status of this memorandum, the Secretary replied that it gave the view of some of Mr. Bevin’s experts, which he thought might be helpful to our experts. He added that there was no conversation between the British Government and this one on it and that it was not an intergovernmental matter. He stated that there was nothing proposed or rejected at all.⁴

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1. Lot 60 D 641 is a collection of memoranda of the Press Conferences of the Secretary of State (1935–1955), Department of State Radio (Wireless) Bulletins (1935–1946), News Digests (1945–1952), and other unclassified press materials for the years 1906–1954, as maintained by the Office of News, Bureau of Public Affairs.
2. The memorandum was prepared by Michael J. McDermott, Special Assistant to the Secretary of State (Press Relations).
3. April 13.
4. On April 21, Lord Jellicoe, Second Secretary of the British Embassy, called at the Department of State to discuss the implications of Secretary Acheson’s press conference remarks. Jellicoe reported that the British Embassy had received a message from Foreign Secretary Bevin requesting that an immediate answer be sought to his communication of March 31 (see p. 286) as he regarded the matter as urgent and wanted the question cleared up immediately (memorandum of conversation by Baxter, April 21, 868.20/4–2149).