Roosevelt Papers
The Secretary of State to the President
Memorandum for the President
I herewith send you despatch 906 from Algiers,1 in particular, and also 3412 from London,2 regarding the de Gaulle–French situation. You will notice that despatch 906 quotes General Catroux directly and personally with regard to the inside of the present de Gaulle situation. I feel that you and Prime Minister Churchill are becoming more and more equally interested in disposing of this increasingly troublesome, serious, and not to say, dangerous problem.
I am also sending you Algiers 902 of May 17 containing Giraud’s last proposal to de Gaulle.3 I call your special attention to the marked paragraph in Section Two urging the importance of you and Mr. Churchill now reaching an agreement regarding this entire matter.
- Telegram 906, May 18, 1943, from Algiers, Foreign Relations, 1943, vol. ii, p. 121.↩
- Telegram 3412, May 17, 1943, from London, not printed. In this telegram, Ambassador Winant reported on a conversation with former French Senator Henri Queille, who had recently been brought from France by General de Gaulle’s “British facilities”. Queille spoke at some length about the growing spirit of resistance in France, the gratitude of the French people to President Roosevelt and the Anglo-American liberation of North Africa, and the “mystique” of de Gaulle. Queille’s principal plea was the importance of unity among the two factions of the French liberation movement, and he urged that the United States Government do what it could to bring about this union (851.00/3088).↩
- Telegram 902, May 17, 1943, from Murphy for the President and the Secretary of State, Foreign Relations, 1943, vol. ii, p. 119.↩