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(M
CONCLUSIONS
of a Meeting of the War Cabinet held at 10 Downing Street,
- S.W. 1, on Saturday,-October' 14, 1939, at 11-30 A.MV
----
Present:
The Right Hon. N E V I L L E : CHAMBERLAIN, "M..]?-,-, Prime. Minister (in the Chair).
The Right Hon. Sir J O H N S I M O N , K.C., The RigAt ;'Hbh.''-" :^iacpp]!iT'
Secretary of State for Foreign
M.P. , Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Affairs.
Right
Hon.
WINSTON
S.
Admiral of the Fleet the Right Hon. The
CHURCHILL, M.P., First Lord of the
LC-RD CHATFIELD, Minister for Co­
Admiralty.
ordination of Defence.
-The,.,,:Right Hon. L.. H O R E - B E L I S H A , The Right Hon. Sir K I N G S L E Y I W O O D ,
M i P , Secretanr of State for A i r .
M.P., Secretary of State for W a r .
Right
Hon. L O R D
HANKEY,
"The Right Hon. Sir SAMUEL HOARE, The
Minister without Portfolio.
Bt.,-M.P.,. Lord-Privy "-Seal...''
:
;
The following were also present:
T h e R i g h t Hon. Sir JOHN A N D E R S O N , The.. Right Hon. A N T H O N Y E D B N , M.P.,
- iMLP., :.S(Sci!?etary^ of:;:State.',for; the.
Secretary... of- State for Dominion
Affairs. '
lome Department-and Minister of
-Home ......
T h e . Right Hon. - O L I V E R STANLEY,
Hon.
the
MARQUESS O F
of
M.P., - President of the ZETLAND,;: -Secretary-of / State:' for
Trade (Item &).
India, and Secretary of State for
Burma (Item 12).
The Right Hon. E U A N W A L L A C E , M.P., The Right Hon., Sir J O H N G I L M O T O , Bt., M.P:, Minister- of --Shipping.
Minister of Transport (Item 8).
[(MemM- --
A i r . Chief --Marshal Sir
'' -
Sir HORACE J . W I L S O N , Permanent
Secretary to the Treasury.
^^ilsiAlA-zGhieA' / of Ss&X/MMiMW^-
Admiral ' of the' P h o t " S A DuBrrnr
caiol GM&2
PatiiJA WHAT' Co .
If aval C A A ( l A ^ 1.-0).
GesrEal Sir W . EKIOTTOD IAOTSEBG,,
Chief oJ! A s luep., A I Geatsca! S t e A '
AilKAlA^
1
Secretariat. ' ­
CYEIE
A . if...
:
.
-
v .,.
'
..
J
.. ,' 1 .
1
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. 1
,
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i
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'
...
.
.
CONTENTS.
Minute
No.
.1
A i r Operations ...
385
2
Naval Operations
185:
.3
The Military Situation
385;
4
A i r Policy
5
Belgium
6
Diversion of Shipping from East Coast Ports
7
Negotiations
with
General Orbay
. . . . . . . .
8
Turkey . . . . . .
9
Germany
10
-Denmark
the
...
...
-
...
380
Turkish
Mission
under
...
. . . . . .
.......
388
. . . . . . . . .
...
...
...
...
. . . . . .
...
89
89
Landing of German airmen shot down at sea.
11
Norway ...
...
...
.-- ....
v
Chartering of tonnage.
12
/'''Jj^a,''^d:'.i^ W-9x...
Proposed Statement b y the
/:
...
Viceroy.
...
3S
D II I 1
iii
^ b ^ - ^ ^1', BDts oii the zh 3* x - otateiufieilt.
CmAAma
& ' Tke i f l l f l i i i S 0/ £lb AdmirAj
/iiibii^
Ibbllif^
(Previous
Eeference:
lifgffiltei the Was? Gabiaefc
attacked by a submarine which, by some unknown means, had
penetrated the defences. There was a report that two men in the
;gatt?Kp;A^I. \ W^SM^^
^^Y^M:M0h^: M:. pEOJjelleJip.
:
nad not
'"'
rewaledjj^^
The first sign of attack was an explosion forward, which at
first was thought to have been the result of some internal. cause.
About S20 minutes later there were. other explosions, and the ship
sank. Admiral Blagrove, and about .800. officers and men were
believed to have beeh.:drot?nb(i: .;./..',;':
A l l ships in the Flow had immediately been ordered to raise
steam, and putto'sea. This operation had been safely executed, and
search was now being made for the submarine which it was thought
might have been unable to make its way out of the Elow.
The loss of this ship, though an extremely regrettable disaster,
did not materially affect the general naval position.
The enemy's submarine campaign against our shipping had
been intensified, and two British merchant ships and one French
had been torpedoed. I n addition, the Stohepool had sustained a
running fight forfive,hours with a submarine, and, though damaged^
had made a successful escape. Most of these attacks had taken
place just after the dispersaL of convoys, and orders had now been
issued for Convoys to remain together for 48 -hours longer.
Our attacks on bC-boats h^
As
reported the previous day, one submarine had struck a mine ih
the Dover barrage. A second had been sunk by H.M.S. A fridi, off
Beachy Head. A third had been sunk by H.M.S. Imogen, while she
was escorting the Sionepool, and the Officer Commanding and 16
survivors had been picked up. Of these submarines, two were of
the very latest type. It was hoped to send divers down to the one
offBeaohy Head, which; lay in only 14 fathomsi
The Polish submarine Orzel had succeeded in escaping from the
Baltic, and had arrived in-the;Forth. ^ ,.;..;.
:
1
The, W a r Cabinet took note of the above statement.
The MUitaify
Situation
3. The Secretary of State for War said that the centre of
gravity of the enemy*s concentration appeared to be in the T r i e r ­
.(lbb;p0U^
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pp.ui I I f Lc^L,bib l l l i f i t tbeii .OL\^J
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b y
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f a c ^ ' / cjoabbb u; L* * w U -Oe iu the bjuify. '
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c.
,
to.
:
Reference:
W . M . (89) 4
CJ&elusions,
M i n u t e 2.)
aora&dcwj. /' \ i . - X - OVohi'^ 3 y d "
*
.
U - a Meeting-obacl been -held: to consider tbe: employment of bur A i r
Force in the event of certain courses of action being taken by
A MOTE OF THE DISCUSSIONIANFLLF TTA
ilffTHE BECRETARYJ;S. STANDARD iffii&ro^
(Previous
Beference:
WM. (39) 46th
Conclusions,
Minute 6.)
W . M . (39) 46th
Conclusions,
Minute 7.
A*^CJAFEM
5. The Prime Minister-' gave the /War Cabinet.F
; A
regarding a conversation which he had had the previous.day with­
the Belgian Ambassador regarding-,the', attitude of the ,..Belgian.
Government on "the ' question' of their ^-neutrality. ' -Betails of' the
information so furnished are recorded in the Secretary's Standard
File of W a r Cabinet Conclusions.
1
With reference to the discussion of the W a r Cabinet at the
Meeting noted in the margin, the Prime Minister said that he had
explained to the Belgian Ambassador the action which we proposed
to take with our Air Force in the,event of'-a German invasion of
Belgium, and of the consequences which might arise from it. This
information came as no surprise to the Belgian Ambassador, and
he had raised ho objection to it on the grounds Of possible casualties
among the civil population.
The W a r Cabinet took note of the information com­
municated in the discussion referred to above.
Bisessiom of
6. The W a r Cabinet had under consideration a Memorandum
Shipping from by the Minister of Transport (Paper W . P . (G.) (39) 35) IN which
Brat Coast
AN account was given of the manner in which his Department had
carried Out, since the 1st September, the policyrfor the diversion of
(Previous
shipping from East Coast TO West Coast ports agreed upon by the
Beference:
Committee of Imperial Defence at their meetings ON the 20th April
W . M . (39) 44th (C.I.D. 353rd Meeting) and the 29th May (CJ::D;^63rd Meeting).
Conclusions,
Minute 3.)
In the course of a statement explanatory of his Memorandum,
the Minister of Transport drew attention to the following aspects
Of the situation :—
(i) The average daily number of ships iM foreign trade arriving at
East Coast arid West Coast ports respectively in n o r m a t
times.
' ­
. East Coast, ^:ships(02,OOOrtonsihet).
West Coast, 78 ships (98,00.0 tons nel£, .
Owing, however," TO the number OF big-ships arriving at"
. London, the East.Coast, acepuntodf ^
. of the 90 million- tons.of merchandise imported j e s e & i ! ; ; , ... 'i
m
-
(ii) Arrivals of ships in the first month of war.
'
,
FOR a NUMBER of REASONS,' e.g., ihe clcqing ^ *v*,
MEDITERRANEAN SND THE onslhw' , ; X - ' , ; j j , j . iz ? JfyJ$,,
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(Hi)-. Expenditure on. port Improvements m4er;the
11!
Civtt Befm&e
7filat;*r*^
' :-'
TMs was ia respect of measures-fo-838ta*e.dcetec^carimg--*
ol po us s j - the provioiian of additional facilities. Msjor
port improvements would take -so long to. complete that-they
- - could not be taken into account for present- purposes.,
:(iv). [Boc&E'0dur. :
------
,
One of the most, satisfactory features of the situation was
that the Minister of Labour had been able to make full arrange­
ments for dock labour to be transferred from East to West on
. alarge,scaley ^
The Minister stated that the Admiralty had the previous day
given instructions for full diversion to the West Coast. This meant
that, of the larger British vessels coming in, only a few refrigerated
ships bound - for London would be allowed to put in on.-.the.- East
Coast: W e had no power to order diversion in': the, case of neutral
shipping. I n consequence, it was now expected that the West Coast
ports would be filled up with normal arrivals and diverted ships
before the end of October.
The Minister said that the conclusion which he drew from the
first month's experience of war conditions was that, while con­
siderable diversion had been built up as an ad hoc measure, no
continuous diversion of a large portion of East Coast shipping was
practicable over a long period without serious congestion and
dislocation of trade and indu
e, under the: necessity
of - reverting ,to- .the. use - of the East. Coast ports as soon as it became
dd:'SC).
-a
flowing points were made in the course of discussion :—
(1) The. Seefetm^, of State for-Air
./inosM^
a a .. .Coast':shbflld
(2)
said that the A i r Btaff.were
he Prime Minister raised the question whether there were
not facilities in the port of Liverpool which had not
.OJI':
:iild,-iiar^
iilllSllill
S38
A
'
mcfcj
^ 1 - i d ! (ottoy,,
(Previous
A3 3 -
i
A-
­
W . M . (30) ,4gafi ;
Conclusions,
:
Minute A)'.":',": ,
?
-our action in ae .SI J & y ^ ^ - i
^ "A.,, , - ,
- , ;H ­
- Treaty h a d \ b ^ : A i ^ f f l ^
Jfcss
gesture, by which w ,
^ , . A' -^ , ,
Ay
of the Treaty. I t TM&been.-P ^^-^^!^.
,
i A ,
of material selected from the general jus
,
" Tte "c" vere,
Orbay, though at a certain sacrifice to ou
^ i c h i her
1
s
:
J
J
r
0881
ne
t
Anti-tank guns,
Bofors guns,
A n oil tanker.
The Turks felt also that the rate of dbliyery of i -;7-incli'
A.A. guns proposed was very slow.
...
As regards anti-tank guns, the possibility of Ti
obtaining her requirements from Spain was being
The position as regards Bofors guns was n u ­
clear, but it would seem that, of the 250 which
originally ordered from Bofors, 162 were to
factured' in Sweden, and, of these, between 4u s m a u wu
were now ready for delivery; the Swedish Government had
refused to permit the export of these guns to us
proposed that they should be sold to Finland. Gem
had raised the question whether it would be p o s s i u i e i o r
Sweden to permit some of these guns to be diverted to Turkey,
and he had arranged that day to see M. Prytz, the Swedish
Minister in London, to ascertain whether the Swedish Gpvern­
ment would agree to the Turkish Government taking over our
contract. He was also telegraphing to Ankara for instructions
from his Government. He (the Minister for Co-ordination of
Defence) had suggested that, if an arrangement on these lines
:
V
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n . ^ . *lA Si--J:.TC
M
/ I - ­
,
.
—
v y ^ ^ i u m v u v
n v i u u
agree u
course, but had undertaken to put the question to them.
If the Turkish Government, while wanting the guns.
- ^ r e f i ^ d neyertheless to finance, their Purchase in this w & it
.:.
might; ,be ,a matter .,£pr. mm^^MMI,::
Z^H&R we should
ourselves find the sum involved,
PTOVM^M^MS^M
( b o v e r a m e a K allowed the export ofAhece ^anao to mw ally
;
:
to sappiy them m Twhy, ftey
ha$ been
been ha?aeed from om e-port oreclA to Tuafe^r.
Tk&mnistwmtt^
T r a d e
ft-
A -
-or\?t J , : X
V
-
- ' 'A
i
ttl
Portfolio enquired whether it would be
-A to be a A .
,
5
- '
-
"
tyoul
­
A"
:
"m
' A
AA'^v ?-A
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,
fe':iv
,'
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In co
J-XO! v ZuLi ottra Go oaiuiii ,n , B
*
. e ^ c s i --:h
suggested that it might be desirable for us to devise some barter
scheiae on the German modeL - ' '
'
r
,(
y i s Ckaneeifaf o) ike Spmc'0jmr'h^
that he would not obfoeG
io She pwiefcce joy Tmlksy oi Uaelfoioic P-CLUO being hnpnced fiom
fcJoe gold Joan,; although under the Treaty ao it stood that loem
iSiafS
the Treaty eajhe into" full operation. H e would, however, feel a
voi-y great reluctance to part with the sum of BSg^OJJCD in w l d or
^0iii^&fT'&M^e ' for '
:the;pl5ssibiiity:of $ / b i r ^
tobe'%E^
Treasuryl ­
:
:
:
make. a- further repbrthto:the .War. Cabinet! ^
-October, m , by which time/General: Orbay should be in-, possession
of i n s t r u c t i o n ^
:--"y'f-.
. '-' v -----\7
;
- T h e - W a r Cabinet took note'of-the--above discussion.'
8. The Secretary of State for Foreign A fairs said that he
was still without news as to the progress of the discussions in regard
to the proposed Turco-Soviet pact between M M . Stalin and Molotov
and"M. Sarajoglu, the Turkish. Minister for Foreign Affairs, This
was not surprising, since these discussions were only resumed at a
meeting held the previous day and would probably not be completed
at a single session. T h e following day was the earliest time when
a report might be expected.
(Previous
W . M . (39)
Conclusions,
Minute I I . )
The W a r Cabinet took note of the above statement.
-p. - The-fecmaryof
S tate for-Foreign A ffmrs said that-he-was
not. in- a posifapn to make any.definite: -report to^thd-War Cabinet''
regarding the reception in Germany o f t i e Prime" Minister s speech.
Ara£,oussiionthem took place regarding the" probable next move
of the'German Government. The general fealinp was
- (Previous- ­
Ks&Eerase: -
8
Conclusions,
--^-^ wcoa
4
w i - j - j ^ u ^ o u wiiuji M y uuwmm
ms%, it ne were not toi&M the ofenave in the West he 1am the risk' of cevere l o x of
morale, wJkle is he weie to attach the JMaginot Line, he -would fc*
MIi^
-'"
1
if!?;
toito Ji'^', to to toto" L"to'.
' '
'
airMetol uto2
to\.
,L
,
sent but fbr the -pu^^iilseV if' it'na* jJbt: bSeii-ii^oJ^^
vejcels to tor, ^
AJItoooiktototoi to i a * j i j toito' ^
idiat
i
1
V
­
":
:
sred
^fhallSlfSi^
that, unless the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs were
advised that iiiere was saAdtanej im too ciaioiii Ato iece
airmen should not fas intsxtoed In View o f & y facs tkto
ikoj
had been picked up outside Banish territorial waters, Sue
should send a telegram to His Maje$ty's Minister,
Copenhagen, asking him to inform ibhe Banish
Gmemmmt
that we should regard the grant of permission to these men
to return to Germany as inconsistent with Danish
' neutrality. '
:
ii 1
The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs drew attention
to Telegram-No..231, d a t e d , : t l t o ' I S t h ; O e t ^ y ' i m - . . ^ w d from
His Maiesty's Minister, Oslo, which gave good ground for Aopipg
that a satisfactory agreement would :. shortly be reached for the
chartering of Norwegian tonnage. The firm language which he had
used at I S recent interview with M. Colban, the Norwegian
Minister, seemed to have had a, good effect
1
Chartering of
tonnage.
(Previous
Eeferenee:
W . M . (39) 38th
Conclusions,
Minute 9.)
The W a r Cabinet took note of the above statement.
India ami ffiie
12 The W a r Cabinet had before them a Memorandum by the
Secretary of State for India (Paper W P . (G,) (39) 32), to which
Proposed State­ was annexed a telegram from the Vicerby, conveying the text of a
draft statement to be made by him as to the intentions and aims of
ment by the
H i s Majesty's Government in regard to
Viceroy.
(Previous
Beference:
W . M . (39) 34th
Conclusions,
Minute 16.)
The Secretary of State for India said that the statejpent
involved only two commitments, both of them previously authorised
by the W a r Cabinet, namely, that a consultative body should be set
up for consultation by the Government of India on issues concerned
with the war, and that the British Government would be ready to
consider-:changes, in the Federal provisions o f . t h e . A c t of ,1135 at.
the "end of. the war, if at that'time-there
m^ m^^, s:^3^^,.
in India to justify this course of.action. Inthe-Viceroy
opinion,
the statement would not satisfy - the .Left Wing, of the. -Congress,.­
:
- a'-' '.-,
1
-a
toil- -tot-, *
v
., TT*nr*
'to' H'3\toto''7to-ItoTto,,:
to.4?
:
$tototo. 'to$?' .*-':to,-totoav
:
a "jL-rs
and the, B i g h t Wing, would -probably,., o^a OJ. l e a CL uto I J U , oe
unwilling -to "agree to co-operate with the Gf* " a n.aa M - would,,
hdwev^r,Be - .v^lc"oined;':by ""Considerably
I n ' this' country, toe. Secretary . of Stale had fcsen ' approached by
several members -of the Opposition Parties. - They 'tod toygytoed
that we should go'further to meet the vicivs of Qoaaaay '^$ff$flff
did not appear to appreciate the practical dimeuMep of this SaBjwp I
H e could "only conclude that-the oc a:a:a sto .
. ^a -dlfll^
attacked by the Labour Opposition "and by come os toe iltoca: a.
W e hsid also
to
toes
tos
aye
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- -
.
SG)S3'?ji
-
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,
?
: - -ua the t j l e of i .zz zz 3'
. .z softer.
diffcivro GO the folio./"ig pomsmc
iSOr
3
t t
' dssGi4bed as 'a -great'nation, with a long- and indef.endeiffi&­
---t.radi.^oa'of'itc &m " I t o d "somelotfear:£loess; which woafo.
appeal to Indian sentiment might be substituted.
V:
;,;f£
' sideied "in", the light of-, the P r m e IWinisterbs statements ox.
British policy, more particularly his.,statement in. tne,.M.ouse..
- of Commons on the 12th October. I t was undesirable to attempt
to'restate our policy i n different terms. Was it m^^£j"yo
say.
- that i t was difficult to define theobjeetives before.1dm Majestybs
Government.1 - (Page- S, line 22,) Again, the pa^sage-inbthe­
"middle of page 4 (starting " W e are fighting to -' safeguard
' . . . . " ) by its very elaboration .obscured: the real point,
' namely, that Great Britain was fighting to defend herself
and-the smaller'countries: o f Europe and at the same time other.
. countries (including India) against aggression.
Page % line 19.—Reference should be made to
India s
' due place' amongst the Dominions " - t h e -phrase which, had
been,used in- the past, in -this connection. . ,
z.
page 12, end of the first paragraph-—The last three lines,
- including the -reference'to" the-Committee of Imperial Defence,
should.be. omitted as.;liable-\tb lead''.' to"wrong inferences and
:' claims..
-' Page 12,last line hut £wo.--Thesuggestion of selection , by -:
rotation or otherwise", had better ..be omitted from the;
. b;-;-bb'': ;'"-'.:
. statement.
The W a r Cabinet- accordingly agreed
"
'' ' ' (IV to ask/the" Secretary-bf Btate for I n d i a to convey..-to the
Yiwsimv' *ui
-vaiefid' in -the -course of the-discussion,
and to invite him to modify the draft accoro!r:piy;
(ii) subject to these modifications, to authorise the secretary
:
:
;
:
nnifn
1
to £cone the statement as proposed in the Memorandum
- '(iiiV i0'w-\cm-
the ^ssms m
J^chmond^Terrace,
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