(c) crown copyright
Catalogue Reference:CAB/65/1/43
Image Reference:0001
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CONCLUSIONS:
-JML
of a Meeting of the Wm Cabinet Held at W Bowning Street,
Present:
The Bight Hon., N E V I L L E C H A M B E R L A I N , ;M.P., Prime Minister, (in the Chair).
The Eight Hon. Sir JOHN S I I I Q N , K.C., The Bight Hon. YiscousfT H A L I F A X ,
M.P1, Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Secretary of State for Foreign
AffairsV ..
Admiral of the Fleet -the Bight Hon. T h e
Bight
Hon.
WINSTON
S.
L O R D ' : C H A T H S L B , : Minister for CoCHURCHILL, M.P., F i r s t L o r d of the
ordination .-of ]pefence.
Admiralty.
to
The t-Right - Horn.. .,L. H O R E - B E L I S H A , T h e B i g h t Hon. Sir KINGSLEY WOOD,
M.JP.,Secretary o f State' for W a r .
M.P., Secretary o f State for A i r .
The Bight Horn; -Sir S A M U E L H O A R E , The Bight
Hon. L O R D
HANKEY,
Minister without Portfolio.
:
' '/The-following;-^^
The Bight Hon. S i r J e m -Ammmm,T he Bight Hon. A N T H O M Y EBBKF, ,MJ?,,M.P!, Secretary of State for the Secretary of State for- -BosiaSmom-'
Heaped.!^
and Minister of
:
. Hdme\;;:^^l%;';;.'.-.
The;3p%$ii;
-­
:Sir
Service (Item 1).
'AirSGMefH^
Horace
J. Wmsiow, .
to the Treasray.
Admiral;, of :,:.tle- -Fleet. ;.-Sfe-BjraBSga
to-J^OTBaFirsi Oefel^ord;ssidfOiiifKSfe
;
;
\ l i p s ]m^0&s&f 0^i&M
ilSiltvifto^
K^$M v
M
to'lfe.
.
.
'
.
'
:
.
1". L . Joito-l".
"Ktoto
It"
:*v,
7
:
,
'
1
.
.
.
'
'
-
;
CONTEOT
No.
Subject.
1
The A i r Situation
2
Canada's Cohtrihutibn to the W a r
3
Dropping of Leaflets on Germany
: 4
...
Page.
...
The Naval Situation ...
..,
5
The Military Situation
...
6
The Situation created by the German-Soviet Agreement...
34S
Appreciation by the Chiefs of Staff:
7
' ' /
;
8
Opportunities for joining the Armed Forces Of the Crown
Turkey
. " '
...
...
...
...
. . . . . . . . . .
351
T
Turco-Soviet Conversations and the Anglo-Franco-TusMslB
Treaty. Attitude of the French Government.
-,9"
"Anglo-Soviet' Trade
10
11
...
'. ...
, . . . . . .
Staff Conversations with Belgium
. Italy'"
;
...
...
...
... . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12
Germany
13
Herr H i tier's Speech to the Reichstag
^
...
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . .
...
,..
. . . . . .
...
...
...
;
'
...
...
Bevised draft Statement on behalf of H i s Majesty's Government.
352
^ said that, in his statement
afLcmccn in theiHouas of Commons, he Intended' to refer to
ltd czz ^hctions ^hieh the £cxnnioms were making to onr A i r
ehiort. The main contribution wc" Id come from Canada, where,'.in
addition to the output of industry, training schools were being set
up which involved the employment of a large number of Canadian
personnel. These schools would train recruits from Canada, the
United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand; The relevant part
of his statement had been'agreed with the Bominion High C o - ' - i c ­
sioners. ; But-that morning he had-received from Mr. Mackenzie
King the following suggested addition to his statement : ­
f£s;s 13
(Previous
Beferenee:
.W.M. (89)
i t e r a t e 1-2.
" I t will be seen that this scheme involves the cpneentraf
tion of advanced air training largely in Canada. With the
facilities which Canada possesses, this would, in the opinion
of the United Kingdom Government, constitute the most
essential and decisive effort that Canada could put forth in the
field of military co-operation."
;
The Secretary of State for Dominion, Affairs said he thought
the Cabinet.ought to be:.:made.aware that-there was in Canada
a considerable feeling in favour of an Expeditionary Force, to
which Mr. Mackenzie King was opposed. His amendment, whilst
it did not exclude other contributionsj must nevertheless be inter­
preted as a manoeuvre to extract an acknowledgment from us that
the air contribution was the most effective bne which Canada could
make to the war effort of the Empire.
A number of arguments were urged against agreeing to the
incorporation of this statement. Thus, the First Lord of the
Admiralty confirmed that there was' -undoubtedlyv a very strong
desire in some quarters in Canada-to send an "Expeditionary Force.
Meanwhile, our own military contribution on land to France was
far below what we would desire, and the-French would maintain
that it was out of all proportion to their own land effort. Both he
and the Secretary' of Statet for War strongly deprecated that we
should lend ourselves to a statement which might encourage the
Canadians to believe that we should be content with little more than
a contribution of A i r forces.
:
Again, the Secretary,,pf State for Dominion Affairs pointed
out that, as a rule, the Dominions objected m an expression of ­
opinion' from us as towhat. actioa/ihQy-isijBould-take;-;-;/.
Oil the other hand, the view was expressed that the Canadian
A i r contribution was very likely the most important which that
Dominion could make. Moreover, it would probably make a great
lmS^siQn Qzi' Germcmy.
i:M J i ^ ^ y i i i i ^ p B i t ^ - n B ^ t t e d^afesion, said the - '.'.h:.,
Canada camb
::it:^aslther^rb &n^iii^hite'tfeat we..shcM^fe drawS
ii&tf&ittfai^^
1
W&jjg0$j?fe. 'm^^^W^^^pmM-':'
v
j i e K ^ ' s ; p ? 4 r a ^ a j ^ ^ o u l d be r e - w o r d e d a r f i ^ ^ t i - i
sentence'­
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A A i W A AdAAdigi \ d s - - " ^
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(1)'
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Indc&loxi^dao',,": Aa bv A : dA
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Air;
j dndAc A 1 f ' " ' ; t j . ' ' ^ f
dl i b V o - v U f u
iSeereAiy of Stata An' "Bowlawffla A A A W A
the
g8BB$fcsMry.d? State & r Aiff, am e a r n e d A t M M
AiAes
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' endeavour - to obtain M A MAekomsie lOmgA eomcdAl A )
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hie"/.:1to'-dd
-d ;':./'i A ' - - -'so,'the whole of the aelevamfi seefcioun
be caulfttki
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3. The Secretary of State for Air\ stated that he had beem
approached by Sir Campbell Stuart with a view, to the dropping of
leaflets over Germany containing-a summary of the Prime Minister-'s
reply to Hitler's speech, as soon as possible after thereply had been,
delivered.
It was suggested-that the summary., at the.end of.the draft
Statement -(Paper No. W.P, (39) 70): would; be suitable for the
purpose, and there was general agreement with the action
proposed.
Some further discussion took place oh the efficacy of the
pamphlets. The opinion was expressed that the pamphlets were not
pithy enough. On the other hand it was pointed out that they
were" drafted by Germans in: their Own languagearid were designed
to appeal to the German mentality, which was not the same as our
own. I t was too early yet to judge their valbe, though the Germans
were taking active steps to counteract their effect.
In this connection, the Secretary of State fbi"Foreign Affairs
drew attention to Oslo telegram No. 56, in which His M!ajesty's
Minister in Norway reported an announcement in the*German Press
that the Germans would not-consider themselves bound to respect a
country's neutrality if it permitted belligerent aircraft to pass over
its territory either willingly or:through the insufficiency of its air
defences- The implications of this announcement were only too
obvious.
The Chief of the Air Staff said that the Royal-Air Force fully
realised the vital importance of not infringing neutrality in any
way during leaflet-dropping operations.
-..
:Av-'--dA'
The W a r CabinetApproved the suggestion-that arrangements should be
. . made for leaflets, containing a summary- of the Prime
. Ministers Statement on Hitler s Peace Gfier,.to be dropped
'':'
-over Germanyas' soon as possible after -the statement "had.
.A:' be'enAade.' '
'
d
- '
', A d v . - . .
'
s
;
:
4. The First Lord of the Admiralty informed the W a r
Cabinet that the
bes" i-^ckelf in the
Boath 2&? A e TO e r
A y v, - A A . ! oiii^
£59
to&Eoo fleam Go "A * - , 3 . . A " d ^ h A A . A l
, ^ iA
­
A A ; c " j A A ir v
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oyor j l h '
1.-A
r'AA A y r ; A T
j^apc o . " ' ' ' ' '
A ' ,
Jh
j . j,
:
, , , f % ^ r s t o f a, series
o
f
-weekly
conferences
had
take
place
the
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Seooiij^ratf^^B^^^toi^HL
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"tfry
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5.
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Sito.sC previous
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1
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C i A n e i fcifc note oS the e A / e A b k A . :
7 A Bsmeiavy of Blaie for Ww infos
A
)j &3 ^ n bbbAor" s s A n ; " .
.....
and b'. , the number on the V e b s n Float being
b a i s J !
1
FF
Beference:
a p p F O S M M a l y (84;.
M Y
(30)'.42iadi
. J j i . j ^ s '(^Q0Q^-bdi8cqMon\'-i^jranod
*" ­
was, made: to,.a statement ^
. , r e p A e d to the-French A ^ m j b i a s s ^ o j : m l i t ^ X t e l ^ g r ^ ' ^ . . ^ frpjn
Paris) to the effect that the Germans intended to make a very
' powerful attack on.the Maginot Line and.'tp break"-tbroiigh there'
withbbit: . infpnging.;. the'-: nebtrality' of any "adjacent country.
' According to the report, there-" were 150 German Divisions against ­
; 85o£:'the : Allies.."
I t was p o i n t e d ^
amounted to 128 in all, of which probably 40 were of low category
only. On the other' hand, according t o t h e information at our
disposal, there were only 2 Divisions opposite HoEand, the main
:. concentration being opposite Luxemburg a n d . i n the Saar. This
tended to confirm the hypothesis of an attack against the Maginot
Line.
Cabinet took note of the above statements.
:
- W
aCgMiusioHs,-
Minute 3.)
:
:
:
;
:
:
bv thp
epcctaQ by tlo
Ch£ f^?lF£ ^
e
ine
U
n
d
e
r
^ s i d e r a t i o n an A p p : , - A A o n
^ ^?W;'?^ l tbofc;place
G
;
the ^&n£rb c
it was-generally agreed that
D
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A
kidtable foi despatch 4,0
i^s6eibSioli%i'.
u
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w
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'jt
jziZb
o
o
not
take
into account
;.ii^Cfcielb:bS:b'
icactors
which
were
likely
to
operate
A
oar
favour
The"
Staff.
course, outside the province of the Chiefs of Sta f Wb T ^ were, or
(Previous
themselves to the p u r e l y militarv i m o l i c a t i o n s Af
connnea
ZifjCGOEiiOElt.
J
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THP
TTALIIIN&I
0
:-"KS3ebbfiSAbb.
W.M. (39) 34th
:
i^^SeiiMlbbb b':
Miauis 14,
antlAifa '
bl^bbfibsblA- bb
SSmTw^
, , - "j£
E
^T&
:**r - -
leoa gloomy.
The antagonism tetweea the.two
^P*A
'
-
i
'
,rb,
- - b - ' b- 1
^;^T
^
::
^-z,
lite:
7. ZkeLord Privy Seal said that, WWk
aa, a good.deal of discontent in-the country
m result, of, the^lack of opportunities f o r : ' . j d M
- of the-Crown. This was a matter ^ h r a W
- a recent meeting of the Home Policy Com
^emcd^^htial
theresi
Reference:
unemployment point
W . M . (39) 32nd be a change in recruiting
ig policy Dei
Conclusions,
' ,
, War said that, he intended, to. cles
Minute 19.)
The Secretary of State for
up the position as regards voluntary recruitment i-ifr- a statement
wnich he was to make in the House of Commons on Thursday, the
12th October. * In the meantime, he was; glad Of the opportunity of
explaining the situation to the W a r Cabinet.
The following were among the points brought out in the
Secretary of State's explanatory statement:—
(i) W e were now following the continental practice of calling
up recruits on an ordered plan, but there had, in fact,
been every opportunity before the outbreak of war for
voluntary recruitment for both the Regular Army and
the Territorials from much wider age groups. It was
by voluntary recruitment that the Territorial Army
had reached its pre-war strength of approximately
430,000 men.
(ii) W e must avoid the mistake made in the last war of
enlisting simultaneously hundreds of thousands of men,
of all age groups, for whom we had neither equipment
nor training facilities.
(iii) A s regards the voluntary recruitment of the rank and file,
the current belief that men were being refused in large
numbers was very wide of the mark. The W a r Office
were even accepting alien refugees, provided that they
could pass certain Home Office tests. Any man/there­
fore, "Who fell within the specified age limits, could
present himself for registration. All who had done so,
and had passed the medical and other tests, to the
number of about 50,000, were, in fact, being rapidly
absorbed.
(iv) I t was the intention of the W a r Office to form Defence
Battalions of older men for Home service.
(v) A s regards the provision of officers, we had now adopted
the democratic procedure of selection from the ranks.
The men selected were passed through Officer Cadet
Training Units.
(vi) The existence of Warrant Officers Class I I I had resulted
in a smaller number of subalterns being required. Yin­
addition, this new grade of Warrant Officer was in itself
a recruiting ground for the commissioned ranks.
(vii) The fact must be faced that men over;40 were not suitable
to proceed on active service as subalterns.
(viii) The statistical position as regards officers
follows:Officers of the Regular Armv. Territorial
^ serving at^the^QUtbreak^f war^
mmmmI.
til
88,500
%
93
1.
-
t
t,
alp C-ii-LJ-j CO,
m!
JIG
1(5 GOTM qioS- ho-US xzl&dkj bmfzm. Slant affiyb*iihy CTlk&n
eonacioredl Jilmcifc^mL^ij was at libctfey to p a i Mc
name down for the*GhhBi.^ Emergency Esssrve.
'
b
1
'' -h. o\r'
Johy-HHV^h^
;
v
;-y-­
L&fomr^iMmwsd fete War- Cabinet that tics
'. zz/:z' ^-
/
Mifi0mi..of
:agd:1iiilf^^
s
:
-For volunteers, for' the duration o f the- war: ...
For volunteers for the Regular A r m y ...
...
v;
)
- 22-42
. 20-30
There was still a very large - reserve of men on'-whom the. Araay,.
could' draw as soon as it was ready to train- them.- A s regards
unemployment, the three Weekly returns received since the
3rd September showed the following approximate increases : ­
' 100,000,
, - : - : - 50,000;i
20j000.
The suggestion was made that the whole position might be
considered by the Land Forces Committee.
I t was pointed out that the recruiting position was already
under consideration by the Man-Power Committee, but it was felt
that i t was desirable that the W a r Cabinet should be kept informed
off ii^;'-devej[8pmetits' 6f the pbsition, whieh involved certain broad
issues b "
:
After furtherdiscussiph,; the W a r Cabinet a g r e e d ­
. . ( l ) ' ^ t . n p ' . . f u i ^ ^ l ^ o j ^ w a s c a l l e d for until after the forth­
comingstatement by the Secretary of State for W a r
(2) that if, thereafter, further examination of the points
regarding voluntary recruitment seemed desirable, this
should be undertaken by the Land Forces Committee.
v
Vi
v
d^^ClN^^^-Pc^^r W00),;Ae4.'pid.
by
on - di^^ic^yjoppbjsil^'
-$s^nt
byingtb in
in
,Afairs.
and -feiteinfinding-of "Pocjfeey iinn
, . 8.
Affairs said, that the
haea. informed
previous
Turco-Soviet
M.
Corbin,
the
French
Ambassador,
that
the
French
Government
Conversations
;
took-a
view
to
thai
which
we
had-reached
an&the 'AngUi-^
sthe squ^fci^it^of
the modifications to the Anglb­
IVMco-TurSisli
Turkish -^ft^tyl^p^bpj^ea
M . Stalin
his conversations
Treaty. '.'..-';.
Moscow with M.. "Saraloglu, -tie Turkish Minister for
Foreign
Attitude of the
Later"im"the- '5ay -'the French Government had- modified:
their attitude and had suggested a compromises wMeh consisted of
^ ^ ^ ^ B ^ ^ P ^ ^ B ^ ^ ^ t o e ^ f r e l a t i n g to'the position;
the e w n t , of Francs,
Great
fcmeelveo
opposition ...to ,Uie ;ILS.S,-R., Particulars o f the suggested com­
(C3) HxA plomice had 'be^a commraaicsited to H i s Majepty*s Ambassador
OL..2lusittns.
Ankara,, in tel%ram :No:'-5Q£; ' -B.e (the.'S'eqreta% of State) did hot
v
;
-
r
1
:
:
:
C ' 11 " hit V '^zll^j. C " Jh"ny - - I d &feo pier^ws
" h J- h y " 7 u
- - i l u o l . . . C c ' l i ihr-l Jjo French'
' I
yx"
'iCA , U v , d
Oh ^ m ihl
^ent
3J- \ ) - w J
. - u
* t5'L £V L yhS.DML- L e
'$6&bp Jo th
imikk
, y
"
'\ J
r
s
s
'h
i
u ..
^^
" , , .
- , : ...
^rab."-'- .' H'-HH'.!.,
,,r
:
f
:
r
' zr^j
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- d - il - - . w u b h wo o; £ J: ­
%
c
^LJ ,R
.
'tey
­
;
;
4nglo-So5rfat
,. - .. 9. 'Xk&[ Prims Minister. - informed : the W a r Cabinet,: that, he:
had--been informed by':: the Minister of -Supply that he was that
morning signing^ an agreement with the Soviet Trade Delegation
for the acquisition of Soviet timber in return for rubber and tin.
:
dEEade.
:
(Previous
Reference:
W . M . (39) 34th
Conclusions,
Minute 7.)
Comrasatioms
witM Belgium,
(Previous
Reference:
W . M . (39) 39th
Conclusions,
Minute 4.)
Italy.
(Previous
Reference:
W . M . (39) 39th
Conclusions,
Minute 8.)
The W a r Cabinet took note of the above statement.
10. The Secretary of State for Foreign A fairs gave the W a r
Cabinet particulars of an informal oral reply which he had received
from the Belgian Ambassador regardingthe attitude of the Belgian
Government on the question of their neutrality. Details of the
^formation so furnished are recorded in the Secretary's Standard
File of W a r Cabinet Conclusions.
The W a r Cabinet took note of the statement made by the
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
11. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs said that he
had prepared a telegram for despatch, to His Maiesty's Ambassador,
Home, dealing with the questions relating to the Balkans and the
Mediterranean respectively, raised at the meeting of .the W a r
Cabinet noted in the margin. After certain further consultations
he proposed to despatch the telegram to Sir Percy Loraine.
The W a r Cabinet took note of the above statement.
Germany.
(Previous
Reference:
W . M . (39) 39th
Conclusions,
Minute 9.)
12 The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs gave the W a r
Cabinet certain additional information regarding the possible
development of German policy received from the source referred to
at the meeting of the W a r Cabinet noted in the margin. Details
of the information in question are recorded in the Secretary s
Standard File of W a r Cabinet Conclusions.
The W a r Cabinet took note of the statement by the
Secretary ofStatefor Foreign Affairs.
IB. The "War-Cabinet had.before/them; -a'revised draft-of the
Statement tb be. Madfe on behalf" ef P[is Mm^fo
^mem^Mi^:
reply' to -Herr -Hitlers speech in the Aeiehslag
(89) Wj,
v
'ZlzMkztf& '.
R'eyised draft
Statement on
behalf of
His. Majesty's
Government.
:
. The Secretary -af.[-State for BomipJm Affairs said A G J no-had
held,-two discussions with tb^ WZzzzir^zz PI'-"- 0:
-y^ "
tothe propped^ Statement. . The ehS? poAds wiAcb
fit
lpA
r
enough, time to consider the S i ^ t ^ ^ and^ seeoBdly, tha
c ! : d , r ' , . ; sz A r A ^ :11 j: . ' -cJ " A ^ A - ;dz door
e n t
(Previous
- BeSereaee:
W i M . (39) 42w
a
Minuto 6.)
(7/.P.
further; di^ussipn, ihstead of putting questiohs that Herr P
would have iz
ZVLZZ—
\
a
jrgedseMo
^
i
- zxaentzsm^L^.]
A
disc ttojtot "1 '
' to
postpone, the statemei^
T
die I
iipjpiO/fJ
, -
iftoj. ^itoxitouj
L
o- £ S i a t o a i a t o -
V
,
^
li$$f^^
,0ctojbsr, already
f
to
to
^ 3
. . fnlo''
i
.
:
tok$it '
5
The Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs stated that, given
tiaoej- fee did. not anticipate /dhat toeas wodid be aay' ditoetoiiy''ih,
obtaining- the agrssaeat toftkedDoatoniOns, except perhaps In' the'
-casetof"Canada- .--'
' " to
"- - ---The - conclusion reached was that the- importance of-, carrying.,
the Dominions with .ps outbalanced other considerations^ and,-that­
a/further day's delay was desirable.
On the second point, several Ministers shared the view that
paragraph 14 of the draft was a.little too definite. The Foreign'
Secretary pointed out the great difficulty of adopting any form of
Statement which did not. " s l a m the door..-'.' without at the same
time, implying that Herr Hitler's speech did,, in fact, offer a genuine
basis for discussion. I t was generally agreed, however, that
paragraph 14 of the draft, setting out the conclusions of H i s
Majesty's Government, might be put in a more questioning form.
I n this connection an alternative draft of paragraph 14, submitted
by the H i g h Commissioner for Canada, was handed round. I t was
agreed that parts of this draft could be combined With the draft
under discussion.
;
1
The Lord Privy Seal, the Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs and the Minister for Co-ordination of Defence suggested
that, in order to appeal to the more idealistic elements both in this
country and abroad, it Was very desirableto re-incorporate in the
draft Statement portions of paragraph 16 of the earlier draft
. ( W . P . (39) 77), which dealt in general terms with the kind of post­
war-settlement which the Government contemplated. The reference
in that paragraph to agreement with Herr Hitler and the specific
suggestion for associating neutral countries in drawing up the
peace settlement should, however, be omitteda
I t was agreed that the phrase ' ' German Government " should
be used throughout instead of " G e r m a n y " or " G e r m a n people,"
and that an alternative should be found for the w o r d " reparation "
wherever it was used.
The W a r Cabinet a g r e e d ­
(a) to remit the further revision of the draft Statement, in the
, light of thediscussionand. of"the - representations of-. the.
Dominion Governments, to the. Prime Minister, the
Chancellor of' the-Exchequer, the Secretary of-State for
ForeigfiAffairs and the F i r s t L o r d of-the^Adihiralty''
: : - ( & ) that the Prime Ministers. Statement -should be. deferred
until ^ i £ ' s d a j , tlie.,12th,.Pc^D^r,.the.ii3^a gjveafcsipg.
. the peed for time to consult the Dominion Governments.
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Richmond Terrace, S.W. 1,