868.248/136
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs (Murray) to the Under Secretary of State (Welles)
Mr. Welles: At the conference which was held this morning in Secretary Knox’s office with the Greek Minister, Air Vice Marshal Slessor and myself, the following developments occurred:
Secretary Knox, stating that he has full authority from the President to do so, has made a firm offer to the British through General Slessor to deliver at once the thirty Grumman planes intended for the Greeks in return for the immediate release by the British of thirty Tomahawk (P–40) Curtiss-Wright fighting planes, fifteen of which will be shipped at once on British vessels to Suez. General Slessor accepted this proposal subject to confirmation which he is to seek by telephone within the next half hour from London. He feels certain that the proposal will be approved in view of the statement contained [Page 707] in his letter of March 24, 1941, addressed by him to Secretary Knox, and later forwarded to you,96 stating that “the Air Ministry therefore recommends that either Grummans or Tomahawks off British orders should be dispatched by sea in American ships direct to Suez”. The Greek Minister is awaiting receipt of this confirmation expected by General Slessor before communicating with his Government. General Slessor is to communicate with me immediately after he has received word from London.
As for the shipping aspect of this proposal, General Slessor stated that while it was thought that no British shipping at all would be available for transporting the airplanes in question, he is now informed that sufficient shipping for the transport of fifteen of the planes is immediately available. The Greek Minister reminded him that the Greek Legation in London has already received a firm assurance from the appropriate British authorities that British vessels would be made available for the transport of the entire number of planes for Greece. Secretary Knox very properly observed that the question of the transport of these planes was not our worry and should be worked out between the Greeks and the British.
Secretary Knox’s decision to make the proposal set forth above, namely Tomahawks for the Greeks and Grummans for the British, was taken when he was informed by General Slessor at the conference that the original proposal of the British to furnish the Greeks with Hurricanes in place of the Grummans had not been approved in London.
If this latest proposal goes through, as General Slessor is confident it will, it would in fact represent a return to our original promise to the Greeks made last November involving the delivery of Curtiss-Wright P–40 fighter planes. I may add that I took the occasion during the conference to mention that the fulfillment, although belated, of this promise to the Greeks would undoubtedly have a most stimulating effect on Greek morale at this particularly critical juncture, and might also serve to strengthen the present determination of the Turks to resist aggression.
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