740.00112 European War 1939/1304
The British Ambassador (Lothian) to the
Secretary of State
9
Washington, April 7,
1940.
Dear Mr. Secretary: With reference to my
letter of yesterday informing you that a communication had been made by
the Allied Governments to the Swedish and Norwegian Governments, I
enclose herein the text of a message which I have been instructed to
convey to the President for his personal and secret information.
Yours sincerely,
[Enclosure]
Message for the President
In addition to addressing these notes to the Swedish and Norwegian
Governments the Allied Governments have now decided to take certain
appropriate action in view of the situation described therein.
They have reached the conclusion that they can no longer acquiesce in
the present position in regard to the use of Norwegian territorial
waters by Germany. As matters now stand Norwegian ships engaged in
commerce with Great Britain are being continually and mercilessly
sunk in defiance of the laws of war, the Norwegian Government being
unable to take any measures to protect them. Meanwhile German
vessels are not only permitted to make use of the whole length of
Norwegian waters as a shield against the Allied forces, but are
actually being accorded special protection in those waters by the
Norwegian Navy.
Though they realise that the Norwegian attitude is solely dictated by
German threats and pressure the Allied Governments are bound to
consider that these facts result in serious discrimination against
their interests and they accordingly intend to mine certain
stretches of Norwegian territorial waters in order to prevent their
use by German vessels. This operation will probably take place early
on Monday, April 8th, and the Allied Governments will simultaneously
issue a joint declaration of their reasons for undertaking it.
[Page 143]
It is possible that weather conditions may necessitate a short
postponement of the operations and this emphasises the necessity for
absolute secrecy until the public declaration is issued.
