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Catalogue Reference:CAB/65/26/25
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THIS DOCUMENT IS T H E PROPERTY OF H I S BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT
Printed
for the War Cabinet.
May 1942.
Copy N o .
SECRET.
W.M. ( 4 2 )
64th Conclusions.
TO B E K E P T
UNDER
LOCK
AND KEY.
I t is r e q u e s t e d t h a t s p e c i a l care m a y b e t a k e n t o
e n s u r e t h e secrecy of t h i s d o c u m e n t .
W A R C A B I N E T 64 ( 4 2 ) .
CONCLUSIONS
of a Meeting
of the War Cabinet held at 10 Downing
S.W. 1, on Monday, May 18, 1942, at 5 - 3 0 P . M .
Street,
Present:
The R i g h t H o n . W I N S T O N S. C H U R C H I L L , M . P . , P r i m e M i n i s t e r (in the Chair).
The R i g h t H o n . S i r STAFFORD C R I P P S ,
The R i g h t H o n . C. R . A T T L E E , M . P . ,
Secretary of S t a t e for D o m i n i o n
K . C , M . P . , L o r d P r i v y Seal.
Affairs.
The R i g h t H o n . S i r J O H N A N D E R S O N , T h e R i g h t H o n . A N T H O N Y E D E N , M . P . ,
Secretary
of S t a t e
for Foreign
M.P., L o r d P r e s i d e n t of t h e Council.
Affairs.
The R i g h t H o n . O L I V E R L Y T T E L T O N , T h e R i g h t H o n . E R N E S T B E V I N , M . P . ,
M.P., M i n i s t e r of P r o d u c t i o n .
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 f o l l o w i n g w e r e also p r e s e n t :
Dr. H . V . EVATT, K.C., Special
Envoy
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 .
The Right Hon. Sir KINGSLEY W O O D , The R i g h t H o n . H E R B E R T MORRISON,
M . P . , S e c r e t a r y of S t a t e f o r t h e
M.P., Chancellor of t h e E x c h e q u e r .
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 . V I S C O U N T CRANBORNE,
Secretary of S t a t e f o r I n d i a a n d
S e c r e t a r y of S t a t e f o r t h e Colonies.
Secretary of S t a t e f o r B u r m a .
The Right H o n . A . V . ALEXANDER, The R i g h t H o n . Sir J A M E S GRIGG,
M . P . , F i r s t L o r d of t h e A d m i r a l t y .
M . P . , S e c r e t a r y of S t a t e for W a r .
The Right
H o n . S i r ARCHIBALD The R i g h t Hon. LORD LEATHERS,
SINCLAIR, B t . , M . P . , S e c r e t a r y of
M i n i s t e r o f W a r T r a n s p o r t (Items 2
State for A i r .
and 3).
The R i g h t H o n . B R E N D A N B R A C K E N , T h e H o n . S i r A L E X A N D E R CADOGAN,
M . P . , M i n i s t e r of I n f o r m a t i o n .
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 d m i r a l of t h e F l e e t S i r D U D L E Y A i r Chief M a r s h a l S i r C H A R L E S F . A .
POUND, F i r s t S e a L o r d a n d C h i e f of
P O R T A L , C h i e f of t h e A i r Staff.
Naval Staff.
G e n e r a l S i r A L A N B R O O K E , 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 Sir HASTINGS ISMAY.
M r . NORMAN BROOK.
[23835]
WAR
C A B I N E T 64
CONTENTS.
Minute
No.
Subject.
1
Naval, Military a n d Air Operations
Air operations:
H o m e Theatre.
Malta.
Egypt.
Naval operations:
Shipping losses.
Military operations:
Burma.
Russia.
2
Supplies to Russia
3
W e s t Africa
Defence arrangements.
4
Publicity
­ ....
Military operations.
5
Publicity
British publicity in United States.
6
Palestine
Illegal immigration.
7
M a j o r - G e n e r a l S i r A. C u n n i n g h a m .
Question of further employment.
(42)
33
Naval, Military
and Air
Operations.
(Previous Eeference: W.M. (42) 61st Conclusions, Minute 1.) Air Operations. Home Theatre. Malta. Egypt.
Naval
Operations.
Shipping losses.
Military
Operations.
Burma.
Russia.
Supplies to
Russia.
(Previous
Reference:
W.M. (42) 61st
Conclusions,
Minute 1.)
West Africa.
Defence
Arrangements
W . M . 64 ( 4 2 ) . 1. The Chiefs of Staff reported the principal events of the
past week.
In the home theatre air operations had been limited by bad
weather. Coastal Command had borne the brunt of the week's
work, their main operation having been an attack on the Prinz
Eugen
on the 17th May. Preliminary' reports indicated that
probably 2, and possibly 4, hits had been scored.
At Malta the enemy had changed his tactics and was now attacking mainly withfighters,with a view to wearing down our resistance. In the week'sfightingwe, had destroyed 46 enemy aircraft, probably destroyed 22 and damaged 46, for a total loss of 10 destroyed and 17 damaged (including losses on the ground). In Egypt we had intercepted a convoy of between 14 and 20 troop-carrying aircraft. More than half had been destroyed, and most of the remainder had been damaged. Allied shipping losses for the week totalled 202.000 tons. Most of these ships had been lost in the West Atlantic. The Americans had now begun to operate their conVoy system off the centre section of their eastern seaboard. The position in the Caribbean continued to be unsatisfactory, but there was some prospect that the convoy system might now come into operation there earlier than anticipated. In Burma our forces were now withdrawing over the border into Assam. It was estimated that General Alexander still had under his command from 6,000 to 8,000 British troops and from 25,000 to 30,000 Indian troops. Preliminary reports indicated that there might be some lack of discipline among the remnants of two Chinese divisions which were moving back into Assam with our troops. The Prime Minister
asked that the Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs should be consulted before authority was given
for these Chinese troops to be disarmed on arrival in India.
The War Cabinet were given the latest information regarding the progress of the German offensive in the Kerch Peninsula and the Russian drive on Kharkov. The German move in the Crimea was not the opening stage of a major offensive. There were still no signs of any troop movements pointing to a large-scale German offensive, and it was thought that such an offensive was unlikely to begin before mid-June. The War Cabinet took note of these statements. 2. The War Cabinet had a discussion on this subject, which is recorded in the Secretary's Standard File of War' Cabinet Conclusions. 3. The War Cabinet had before them a Memorandum by the
Secretary of State for the Colonies (W.P. (42) 201) suggesting the
appointment of a Commander-in-Chief to ensure co-ordinated
control over the wholefieldof defence services, military and civil,
in West Africa. The appointment would be analogous to that of
[23835]'
B2
Admiral Lay ton in Ceylon. It was suggested that the Commander­
in-Chief, though he might be a high officer of one of the Fighting Services, should not exercise operational control over the Services.
The need for greater co-ordination in this area was accepted. Discussion followed as to whether, the situation called for the appointment of a civilian or a serving officer. The conclusion reached was that general co-ordinating functions should be exercised by a single authority, whose position would be somewhat analogous to that of the Minister of State in Cairo; and that arrangements should also be made for unified command of all the Fighting Services in this area. The War Cabinets conclusions were as follows :— (1) An appointment should be made in West Africa somewhat on the lines of the Minister of State in the Middle East.
Broadly, the functions of the holder of this post would be to ensure the effective co-operation of all Services, Civil and Military, in West Africa. (2) A draft Directive for this appointment should be prepared
and submitted to the Prime Minister. (3) In connection with the preparation of this draft, further consideration should be given to the question whether any alteration was called for in the powers of the Naval,
Military and Air Commanders in West Africa. Publicity.
Military
Operations.
(Previous
References:
W.M. (41) 44th
Conclusions;
Minute 5,
and 64th
Conclusions,
Minute 7.)
4. The War Cabinet had before them a Memorandum by the Minister of Information (W.P. (42) 206) emphasising the importance, from the point of view of public opinion amongst the United Nations and in friendly neutral countries, of the Minister of Information being fully informed in regard to Military opera­
tions, as provided for in W.P. (41) 149. In particular, the Minister
urged, in the light of recent experience in regard to Madagascar, that the Service Departments should be directed to impart to senior officials in the Ministry of Information, at the appropriate stage, information in regard to impending operations. After a short discussion, the War Cabinet agreed as follows :—
(1) It should be laid down as the recognised procedure and brought to the notice of all concerned that, when bodies of troops left this country to engage in operations, they
should include a small unit properly equipped for obtaining a record of those operations. (2) The personnel of this unit would normally be composed of persons under military discipline and trained for these duties. Specially nominated officials of the Ministry of Information should, however, be consulted on such occasions in order to ensure that the unit despatched was appropriate for the purpose. (3) It should.also be laid down that the accounts recorded and the photographs taken on these occasions were to be made available to all organs of the Press. (In this connection the procedure adopted in the expedition to Madagascar, when a representative of a single news­
paper had been taken on board at Durban and accorded special facilities, was open to strong objection. It should be made clear to all concerned that this procedure
must on no account be repeated.) 35
Publicity.
British Publicity
in the United
States.
(Previous
Eef erence:
W.M. (41) 44th
Conclusions,
Minute 5.)
Palestine.
Illegal
Immigration.
(Previous
Eeference:
W.M. (42) 29th
Conclusions,
Minute l.)
W . M . 64
(42).
5. The War Cabinet had before them a Memorandum by the Minister- of Information (W.P. (42)208) covering a paper by Mr. H. B. Butler, the new Director-General of the British Infor­
mation Service in the United States, stating that British prestige in the United States had declined, largely owing to our failure to put the facts of our war effort before the American public. He suggested that the interests of security had overridden those of propaganda and good Anglo-American relations, and mentioned various branches of the war effort about which more information could be made publicly available without giving aid to the enemy. In discussion, the Minister
of Labour
and National
Service
said that in a forthcoming debate in the House of Commons on the
Essential Work Order he would like to mention the fact that there
were nearly 22 million people between the ages of 14 and 64 now
occupied in the Armed Polices, Civil Defence, Industry and Services.
There was general agreement with the views put forward in the paper, but there would have to be some scrutiny to determine exactly how much could safely be published. - The War Cabinet-
Invited the Secretary of. State for Dominion Affairs to examine the Memorandum in consultation with the Minister of Production, the Minister of Information and other Ministers concerned, in order to determine what information could be made public, on the lines proposed in this -Memorandum (W.P. (42) 208), and to report to the War Cabinet. 6. The War Cabinet had before them a Memorandum by the­
Secretary of -State for the Colonies (W.P. (42) 209) about illegal
immigration into Palestine.
The Memorandum stated that since the matter had last been
discussed by the War Cabinet there had been constant pressure by
Zionists in this country and the United States and by their
sympathisers in Parliament for a declaration by His Majesty's
Government of their intentions not only in regard to the treatment
of future refugees, but also as regards the fate of the passengers of
the Darien, who had been in a detainment camp for over a year.
There were signs of a revival of the traffic, and within recent weeks
three small vessels with parties of refugees had reached Istanbul.
The situation which had arisen called for new decisions.
The following points were made in discussion :— (i) The Foreign Secretary
said that he was prepared to
acquiesce in the iine of action proposed by the Colonial
Secretary in his Memorandum provided that the
situation would be reviewed if and when the total
number of immigrants (legal and illegal) admitted to
Palestine reached the quotas set out in the White Paper.
This was agreed to.
(ii) What was to be done to the 20 or 30 illegal immigrants who had now reached Turkey ? The view was expressed that, on the whole, the least objectionable course would be to give them visas to Cyprus, on the understanding that, if and when a decision was reached to remove all refugees from Cyprus, these 20 or 30 people would have to be removed at the same time. The War Cabinet's Conclusions were as follows :— (1.) In pursuance of the existing policy of taking all practicable steps to discourage illegal immigration into Palestine, no steps whatever should be taken to facilitate the arrival of Jewish '' refugees '' in Palestine. (2) F u t u r e s h i p l o a d s of illegal i m m i g r a n t s who, nevertheless,
succeeded i n r e a c h i n g P a l e s t i n e s h o u l d be ianded, placed
i n d e t a i n m e n t c a m p s , a n d those w h o p a s s e d the security
a n d economic a b s o r p t i v e checks s h o u l d g r a d u a l l y be
released a g a i n s t t h e c u r r e n t h a l f - y e a r l y q u o t a s g r a n t e d
under the W h i t e Paper.
(3) T h e Darien
d e t a i n e e s should be s u b j e c t e d to the same
procedure.
(4) A l l p r a c t i c a b l e s t e p s should be t a k e n t o avoid publicity for
the new arrangements. I t was suggested that private
e x p l a n a t i o n s s h o u l d be g i v e n t o those w h o w e r e likely to
r a i s e t h e issue publicly.
Major-General
Sir A.
Cunningham.
Question of
further
Employment.
(Previous
Reference:
W.M. (42) 31st
Conclusions,
Minute 3.)
7. T h e W a r - C a b i n e t were i n f o r m e d t h a t M a j o r - G e n e r a l
C u n n i n g h a m h a d a s k e d w h e t h e r h e m i g h t be definitely informed
w h e t h e r t h e r e w a s a n y p r o s p e c t of h i s b e i n g f u r t h e r employed.
I t w a s u r g e d t h a t t h i s Officer w a s e n t i t l e d to be informed
w h e t h e r he w a s likely to secure f u r t h e r e m p l o y m e n t .
A final decision on t h i s m a t t e r w a s d e f e r r e d .
Great
'
George Street,
S.W.1,
May 18, 1942.