763.5/11–254
No. 938
Memorandum by the Assistant
Secretary of State for European Affairs (Merchant) to the
Director of the Office of Western European Affairs (Jones)
Mr. Hoover and I talked this morning on the telephone to Bob Anderson concerning the redeployment of US forces now departed Trieste. He confirmed that the White House decision1 taken yesterday was to send into Austria under General Arnold the equivalent of the battalions who would occupy additional “spaces” and bring the US forces in Austria above strength. Anderson said that the unit which had been in Trieste would absorb short service enlisted men from Europe and return to the United States as a unit.
This decision, according to Anderson, was taken without reference to the final British answer on the Secretary’s suggestion that we send in two battalions to Austria and the British send in one. The feeling, however, was that we should go ahead with our final effort to secure British agreement and Anderson was holding up [Page 1979] the telegram triggering this entire move until we had word from Ambassador Aldrich of the British Cabinet decision through Mr. Macmillan.
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On Nov. 2 in telegram Def 970364 to General Gruenther at Paris, Deputy Secretary of Defense Anderson described this meeting as follows:
↩“The deployment of troops from Trieste was discussed at highest levels yesterday with Secretary of State and Secretary Wilson both present. Your strong feeling of the importance of the troops being deployed to Austria was pointed out together with General Ridgway’s feeling concerning the desirability of deploying the troops as a tactical unit. It was decided after discussion that from 1,500 to 2,000 additional spaces with necessary arms and equipment should be made available to General Arnold for organization into such existing or other units as you might recommend and provided that such spaces would not entail additional construction of housing or barracks for troops or dependents.” (Department of Defense files)