811.2383/1–2549
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Counselor (Bohlen)
Subject: Assignment of U.S. officers to British GHQ at Fayid [Egypt].
The British Ambassador1 called on me at his request this afternoon. He said that his instructions were to take it up with the Secretary but that as it was a relatively simple matter he did not wish to bother him at this time.
The Ambassador said that following the designation of Admiral Conolly2 to be the U.S. planner for the coordination of Mediterranean defense plans the British Middle East Command had suggested that a number of American officers from Conolly’s staff should be attached to GHQ Fayid in Egypt. Mr. Bevin3 saw no political objection to this course but wished to have confirmation from the Secretary that the U.S. Government likewise saw no objection. The second point was the manner in which the Egyptian Government should be approached in connection with the assignment of these officers to the GHQ at Fayid; that is to say, whether permission should be requested of the Egyptian Government or the Egyptian Government should be merely informed on a confidential basis without specifically requesting permission. The British Government also wished to avoid the possibility in dealing with the Egyptians that the latter would use this request as a bargaining point in their constant desire to obtain arms from Great Britain.4
I told the Ambassador I would endeavor to obtain a reply for him as soon as possible; that I had seen some messages from Egypt on this subject,5 and that I felt that if the Secretary’s decision was favorable in principle, our views were very much together as to the desirability of doing it as discreetly and as confidentially as possible.
The Ambassador would like to have (and I promised to let him know tomorrow) confirmation from the Secretary that there is no political objection in principle to having some American officers of Admiral Conolly’s staff assigned to British GHQ at Fayid.
- Sir Oliver Franks.↩
- Richard L. Conolly, Commander in Chief of U.S. Naval Forces in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean (CINCNELM).↩
- Ernest Bevin, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.↩
- For references to documentation on the embargo of shipments of armaments to the Near East, see index entries in this volume under Palestine, Arms Policy for Palestine, and the Near East.↩
- For the nature of these messages, see the memorandum of January 25, infra.↩