(c) crown copyright
Catalogue Reference:CAB/65/25/19
Image Reference:0001
THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT
for the War Cabinet.
Printed
February
1942.
,$ECSET-
Copy No.
$ K M . (42)
1 9 t h Conclusions.
TO
B E
KEPT
U N D E R
LOCK
A N D
KEY.
I t is r e q u e s t e d t h a t special care m a y be t a k e n to
e n s u r e t h e secrecy of this d o c u m e n t .
WAR
CONCLUSIONS
CABINET
19 ( 4 2 ) .
of a Meeting of the War Cabinet held at 10 Downing
S.W. 1, on Monday, February 9, 1942, at 6 P . M .
Street,
Present:
Chair).
T h e R i g h t H o n . W I N S T O N S. CHURCHILL, M . P . , P r i m e M i n i s t e r (in the
T h e R i g h t H o n . C. R . A T T L E E , M . P . , T h e R i g h t H o n . S i r J O H N A N D E R S O N ,
M . P . , L o r d P r e s i d e n t of t h e Council.
L o r d P r i v y Seal.
T h e R i g h t H o n . A N T H O N Y E D E N , M . P . . T h e R i g h t H o n . A . GREENWOOD, M . P . ,
Minister without Portfolio.
S e c r e t a r y of S t a t e
for F o r e i g n
Affairs.
T h e R i g h t H o n . L O R D BEAVERBROOK, The R i g h t H o n . S i r K I N G S L E Y W O O D ,
M . P . , C h a n c e l l o r of t h e E x c h e q u e r .
M i n i s t e r of P r o d u c t i o n .
The Right Hon. ERNEST BEVIN, M.P.,
M i n i s t e r of L a b o u r a n d N a t i o n a l
Service.
:
T h e following w e r e also p r e s e n t :
T h e R i g h t H o n . S i r EARLE PAGE,
S p e c i a l E n v o y from t h e G o v e r n m e n t
of t h e C o m m o n w e a l t h of A u s t r a l i a .
T h e R i g h t H o n . HERBERT MORRISON,
M . P . , S e c r e t a r y of S t a t e for t h e
H o m e D e p a r t m e n t a n d M i n i s t e r of
Home Security.
T h e R i g h t H o n . L . S. A M E R Y , M . P . ,
T h e R i g h t H o n . LORD MOYNE, Secretary
The R i g h t H o n . A . V . ALEXANDER,
M . P . , F i r s t L o r d of t h e A d m i r a l t y .
The Right
H o n . S i r ARCHIBALD
of S t a t e for t h e Colonies.
Captain
the R i g h t
Hon. H . D.
MARGESSON, M . P . , S e c r e t a r y of S t a t e
for W a r .
T h e R i g h t H o n . B R E N D A N BRACKEN,
M . P . , M i n i s t e r of I n f o r m a t i o n .
A d m i r a l of t h e F l e e t S i r D U D L E Y
P O U N D , F i r s t S e a L o r d a n d C h i e f of
N a v a l Staff.
S e c r e t a r y of S t a t e for I n d i a
S e c r e t a r y of S t a t e f o r B u r m a .
SINCLAIR,
Bt.,
M.P.,
of
S t a t e for A i r .
The
Hon.
Sir
ALEXANDER
CADOGAN,
P e r m a n e n t U n d e r - S e c r e t a r y of S t a t e
for F o r e i g n Affairs.
A i r Chief M a r s h a l S i r C H A R L E S F . A .
PORTAL, C h i e f of t h e A i r Staff.
G e n e r a l S i r A L A N BROOKE, C h i e f of t h e
I m p e r i a l G e n e r a l Staff.
Secretariat:
Sir EDWARD BRIDGES.
Major-General S i r HASTINGS ISMAY.
Mr. W . D . WILKINSON.
Mr. L. F. BURGIS.
[23454-2]
Secretary
and
WAR CABINET
10.'(fi2).
c
CONTENTS.
Minute
No.
1
Page
99
Subject.
Naval, Military and Air O p e r a t i o n s
Air Operations.
Naval Operations:
Shipping Losses.
Military Operations:
Singapore.
Burma.
Libya.
Russia.
2
U n i t e d S t a t e s of A m e r i c a
....
....
....
....
....
99
Public Opinion.
3
Tangier
4
Falkland Islands
99
100
Despatch of Canadian Troops.
'
5
Civil D e f e n c e S e r v i c e s a n d H o m e G u a r d
....
....
....
100
M u t u a l Assistance Arrangements.
c
Naval, Military
1. The Chiefs
of Staff g a v e t h e following i n f o r m a t i o n in
and Air
amplification of C a b i n e t W a r R o o m R e c o r d s Nos. 8 8 4 - 8 9 0 :—
Operations.
I n t h e H o m e T h e a t r e t h e enemy h a d lost 5 a i r c r a f t w i t h
-(Previous
6 d a m a g e d ; w e h a d lost 14.
Reference:
I n t h e M i d d l e E a s t t h e enemy h a d lost 5 a i r c r a f t , w i t h 2 p r o ­
W.M. (42) 14th bably destroyed a n d 11 d a m a g e d ; w e h a d lost 18 w i t h 2 3 d a m a g e d .
Conclusions,
I n B u r m a t h e e n e m y h a d lost 13 a i r c r a f t w i t h 13 probably
Minute 1.)
d e s t r o y e d a n d 4 d a m a g e d ; we h a d lost 2 w i t h 4 d a m a g e d .
Air Operations.
A t S i n g a p o r e the e n e m y h a d lost 13 a i r c r a f t w i t h 7 p r o b a b l y
d e s t r o y e d a n d 11 d a m a g e d ; we h a d lost 26 a i r c r a f t w i t h 14 d a m a g e d .
I n s p i t e of t h e a r r i v a l of r e i n f o r c e m e n t s , w e w e r e m u c h out­
n u m b e r e d i n t h e a i r . T h e J a p a n e s e h a d c a r r i e d o u t heavy r a i d s
against Sumatra.
Naval
D u r i n g t h e p r e v i o u s week 115,000 tons of s h i p p i n g h a d been
Operations.
lost by enemy a c t i o n . B e l a t e d r e p o r t s m i g h t account for a n o t h e r
Shipping Losses. 53,000 tons. U n i t e d S t a t e s s h i p p i n g losses accounted for a sub­
s t a n t i a l p r o p o r t i o n of these figures. T a n k e r losses h a d been heavy.
Military
A t first l i g h t on t h e 8 t h F e b r u a r y a small enemy force h a d
Operations.
occupied P u l a u U b i n I s l a n d , N o r t h - E a s t of S i n g a p o r e I s l a n d i n t h e
Johore Straits.
D u r i n g the n i g h t the 8 t h / 9 t h F e b r u a r y t h e
Singapore. :
J a p a n e s e h a d l a n d e d a c o n s i d e r a b l e force on t h e N o r t h - W e s t C o a s t
of S i n g a p o r e I s l a n d . T h e s e t r o o p s h a d p e n e t r a t e d a b o u t 5 m i l e s
i n l a n d . T e n g a h a e r o d r o m e w a s in e n e m y o c c u p a t i o n . T h i s w a s
serious news, b u t w e h a d l a r g e n u m b e r s of t r o o p s in the I s l a n d .
Burma.
T h e g e n e r a l p o s i t i o n h a d been quiet, w i t h s l i g h t p a t r o l a c t i v i t y
a t P a a n a n d D a g w i n (both on R i v e r S a l w e e n ) .
Libya.
A week a g o o u r l i n e h a d r u n r o u g h l y n o r t h a n d south t h r o u g h
Mechili. Increased enemy pressure h a d caused a further w i t h ­
d r a w a l . A n e w line h a d now been e s t a b l i s h e d from G a z a l a to t h e
south, covering T o b r u k . P a r t i c u l a r s w e r e g i v e n of t h e t a n k s t r e n g t h
on b o t h sides. Q u e s t i o n s w e r e a s k e d a s to w h e t h e r o u r a r r a n g e m e n t s
for s e c u r i n g t h e s e r v i c e a b i l i t y of o u r t a n k s w e r e s a t i s f a c t o r y .
G e r m a n r e s i s t a n c e in R u s s i a a p p e a r e d to be stiffening
Russia.
s o m e w h a t , a n d heavy snowfalls h a d h a m p e r e d the R u s s i a n
movements.
T h e W a r C a b i n e t took n o t e of t h e above s t a t e m e n t .
2. I n t h e c o u r s e of discussion on t h e p r e v i o u s item, the Foreign
United States of
Secretary
r e f e r r e d t o t e l e g r a m s w h i c h he h a d received f r o m t h e
America.
Public Opinion. U n i t e d S t a t e s s u g g e s t i n g t h a t w e w e r e l e t t i n g others, a n d p a r t i c u ­
l a r l y A u s t r a l i a n t r o o p s , d o all t h e fighting for u s , a n d t h a t t h e
m a t e r i a l a s s i s t a n c e s e n t w a s l a r g e l y of A m e r i c a n o r i g i n .
The Minister
of Information
said that, a t an earlier stage,
special p u b l i c i t y h a d been given t o t h e u t i l i s a t i o n of A m e r i c a n
e q u i p m e n t . B u t t h e s e i n s t r u c t i o n s h a d a l r e a d y been cancelled.
T h e W a r C a b i n e t took n o t e of t h i s s t a t e m e n t .
Tangier.
3. The Foreign Secretary
g a v e i n f o r m a t i o n i n r e g a r d to t h e
a t t a c k s m a d e on B r i t i s h e s t a b l i s h m e n t s a t T a n g i e r , following a bomb
explosion. P u b l i c i t y i n r e g a r d to these events w a s t o be d e p r e c a t e d ,
a n d a n y a c t i o n w h i c h m i g h t e x a c e r b a t e t h e p o s i t i o n should be
avoided.
T h e W a r C a b i n e t took n o t e of t h i s s t a t e m e n t .
Falkland
Islands.
Despatch of
Canadian
Troops.
4. The Foreign Secretary
r e m i n d e d the W a r C a b i n e t t h a t I t
h d been d e c i d e d to i n f o r m P r e s i d e n t Roosevelt of t h e i n t e n t i o n t o
despatch C a n a d i a n troops to the Falkland Islands. Mr. Mackenzie
K i n g h a d n o w m a d e a n e n q u i r y a s to t h e P r e s i d e n t s a t t i t u d e .
It
w a s p r o p o s e d to i n f o r m h i m t h a t , i n view of t h e n a t u r e , Of t h e r e p l y
received, he could now proceed t o send C a n a d i a n t r o o p s tip t h e
Falkland Islands.
a
T h e W a r C a b i n e t took n o t e of t h i s s t a t e m e n t .
Civil Defence
Services and
Home Guard.
Mutual
Assistance
arrangements.
5.
The W a r C a b i n e t A p p r o v e d t h e scheme c o n t a i n e d i n t h e M e m o r a n d u m by thiei
H o m e S e c r e t a r y a n d t h e S e c r e t a r y of S t a t e for W a r
( W . P . (42) 68) w h e r e b y a p o r t i o n of c i v i l defence w o r k e r s
m i g h t j o i n t h e H o m e G u a r d , a n d m e m b e r s of t h e H o m e
G u a r d m i g h t p e r f o r m civil defence d u t i e s ; a n d i n v i t e d
t h e H o m e S e c r e t a r y to m a k e t h e n e c e s s a r y a n n o u n c e m e n t
i n t h e H o u s e of C o m m o n s on T h u r s d a y , t h e 1 2 t h F e b r u a r y :
Great
George Street, S.W.
February 9, 1942.
1,