859A.20/19½
Memorandum of Telephone Conversations, by the Acting Secretary of State
I read to the President by telephone this evening at six-thirty the suggested text of the message to be sent to him by the Prime Minister of Iceland and the text of a message to be sent by the President in reply. The President approved the two texts.38a
I asked the President if I was correct in my understanding that as soon as we now had word that the Icelandic Government approved the texts of these two messages that the troops now concentrated be immediately sent on their way to Iceland and that the texts of the two messages would be made public simultaneously with the arrival in Iceland of the first detachment of our forces. The President said that this was his desire and understanding.
I then called up the British Ambassador on the telephone and told him that I was sending to him immediately by special messenger copies of the texts of the two messages as now approved by the President. I said that I had not as yet received any reply to the message I sent to the American Consul General at Reykjavik and that I should consequently appreciate it, in order to avoid any delay, if the British Ambassador would clear these two messages as promptly as possible with the Prime Minister of Iceland and let me have the final and definite reply of the Icelandic Government as soon as possible. Lord Halifax replied that he would be glad to do so. I then informed Lord Halifax of the President’s decision that as soon as final word from the Icelandic Government that the texts of the two messages were satisfactory was received by this Government, the forces of concentration would start immediately for Iceland and would be due to arrive there approximately four days from the date of departure. I further stated that the President had confirmed by understanding that the texts of the two messages would be made public here as nearly as possible simultaneously with the arrival in Iceland of the first detachments of our forces.
- Infra. ↩