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T H I S D O C U M E N T I S T H E P R O P E R T Y OF H I S B R I T A N N I C M A J E S T Y ' S G O V E R N M E N T
Printed
for the War Cabinet.
November
1940.
SECRET.
Copy M*.':'
W.M. (40)
291st Conclusions.
TO BE K E P T U N D E R LOCK A N D K E Y .
I t is requested that special care may be taken to
ensure the secrecy of this document.
W A R CABINET 291 (40).
CONCLUSIONS
of a Meeting of the War Cabinet held at the House of Commons
(Annexe), S.W. 1, on Tuesday, November 19, 1 9 4 0 , at 1 1 - 3 0 A.M.
The Right Hon.
WINSTON
S.
Present:
M.P., Prime Minister (in the
CHURCHILL,
The Right Hon. Sir J O H N A N D E R S O N ,
M.P., Lord President of the Council.
The Right Hon. A . G R E E N W O O D , M.P.,
Minister without Portfolio.
The Right Hon. Sir K I N G S L E Y W O O D ,
M.P., Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Chair).
The Right Hon. V I S C O U N T H A L I F A X ,
Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs.
The Right Hon. L O R D B E A V E R B R O O K ,
Minister of Aircraft Production.
The Right Hon. E R N E S T B E V I N , M.P.,
Minister of Labour and National
The following were also present:
The Right Hon. H E R B E R T M O R R I S O N , The Right Hon. V I S C O U N T C R A N B O R N E ,
M.P., Secretary of State for the
M.P., Secretary of State for DoHome Department and Minister of
minion Affairs.
Home Security (Items 1 - 9 ) .
The Right Hon. A. V . A L E X A N D E R , The Right Hon. A N T H O N Y E D E N , M.P.,
Secretary of State for W a r (Items
M.P., First Lord of the Admiralty.
1-3).
The
Right
Hon. Sir A R C H I B A L D The Right Hon. E R N E S T B R O W N , M.P.,
S I N C L A I R , Bt., M.P., Secretary of
Secretary of State for Scotland
(Item 8)".
State for A i r .
The Right Hon. O L I V E R L Y T T E L T O N , The Right Hon. Sir A N D R E W D U N C A N ,
M.P., Minister of Supply
(Items
M.P., President of the Board of
8-10).
Trade (Items 8 - 1 0 ) .
The Right Hon. R. S. H U D S O N , M.P., The Right Hon. L O R D W O O L T O N ,
Minister
of
Agriculture
and
Minister of Food (Item 8 ) .
Fisheries (Item 8). The Right Hon. R. H . C R O S S , M.P., The Right Hon. A . D U F F COOPER^
M.P., Minister of Information.
Minister of Shipping (Item 8 ) .
Admiral of the Fleet Sir D U D L E Y
P O U N D , First Sea Lord and Chief of
Naval Staff (Items 1 - 5 ) .
Secretariat.
Sir
Mr.
Mr.
EDWARD BRIDGES.
W . D. WILKINSON.
L. F. B U R G I S .
43
W A R C A B I N E T 291 (40).
CONTENTS.
Minute
No.
1.
Subject.
Naval, Military and Air Operations
....
....
....
Page
88
Air O p e r a t i o n s : Greece. Naval Operations : E a s t African Coast. S h i p p i n g losses. Military Operations : Italy-Greece. 2.
Greece
83
Military assistance.
3.
Foreign Information ....
....
....
....
....
....
84
U s e of N a v a l b a s e s in t h e A m e r i c a s .
Rumours regarding a separate peace with Italy.
F o o d s i t u a t i o n in S p a i n : U n i t e d S t a t e s a t t i t u d e .
4.
Blockade Policy
84
France.
5.
F r a n c e : t h e French Fleet
Jean
6.
Bart
and
81
Richelieu.
Air Raids
85
Casualties and damage.
7.
Production
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
85
....
....
....
86
C h r i s t m a s b r e a k for w o r k e r s .
8.
Agriculture
....
P r o p o s e d i n c r e a s e of h o m e food p r o d u c t i o n in 1 9 4 1 .
9.
Machine Tools
87
P r o p o s e d a d d i t i o n a l o r d e r i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s for d e l i v e r y t o t h e
M i n i s t r y of A i r c r a f t P r o d u c t i o n .
P r o v i s i o n of m a c h i n e t o o l s for G o v e r n m e n t T r a i n i n g C e n t r e s .
10.
Man-power
R e q u i r e m e n t s of t h e S e r v i c e s a n d of I n d u s t r y .
88
N a v a l , Military
and Air
Operations.
(Previous
Reference:
W . M . (40) 2 9 0 t h
Conclusions,
M i n u t e 1.)
Air O p e r a t i o n s .
Greece.
Naval
Operations
E a s t African
Coast.
Shipping
Losses.
1. The Secretary of State for Air reported that fighter opera­
tions on the previous day had been on a small scale, and neither side
had suffered or inflicted any casualties.
On the previous night about 130 enemy bombers had been over
this country. The raiders had split up, and the majority had flown
over Wiltshire. Abnormally large numbers had been engaged in
mine-laying off the east coast.
On the previous day Coastal Command aircraft had destroyed
one D.O. 18 and damaged another. Two Blenheims on patrol had
attacked and damaged two H.E. 115's off Texel.
Owing to bad weather the operations of day and night bombers
had been cancelled, with the exception of 11 machines which had
bombed Leuna. All had returned safely, but no reports were yet
available.
On the previous day our bombers had bombed supply dumps
20 miles south of Tirana. A standing fighter patrol had been main­
tained over Athens.
The Chief of Naval Staff reported that Newcastle had arrived
safely at Malta.
Four more Town Class destroyers had arrived in this country.
On the previous day the enemy had bombed a number of sloops,
minesweepers and destroyers off the East coast. None of these
attacks had been successful.
The Channel convoy had been bombarded, but had suffered no
casualties.
The submarine Swordfish, on patrol off Brest, had been overdue
since the 16th November and must now be presumed lost.
The Dorsetshire had bombarded Dante, in Italian Somaliland,
on the evening of the 18th, and had badly damaged the targets on
shore. There had been no shipping in the harbour.
The Nestlea (British 4,274 tons) had been bombed and machine­
gunned near Fastnet on the previous morning and had sunk. The
Fabian (British 3,059 tons) had been sunk by a U-boat south-west
of Freetown on the 16th instant.
The St. Germain (British
1,044 tons), with a cargo of pit-props, had been torpedoed 30 miles
off Bloody Foreland on the 17th instant, but was still afloat.
The Italians had claimed to have shot down a Blackburn Shark.
I t was possible that this was the Skua aircraft which had flown off
from the Argus on the morning of the 17th.
Military
Operations.
Italy-Greece.
The Secretary of State for War said that there was nothing to
report from the Greek front. It was evident, however, that the
Greeks were suffering from attacks by Italian aircraft on the
Koritza front.
The War Cabinet took note of the above statements.
Greece.
Military
Assistance.
2. The Prime Minister informed the W a r Cabinet of the
decisions reached by the Defence Committee (Operations) at a
Meeting held on the previous night.
A record of the statement is contained in the Secretary's
Standard File of W a r Cabinet Conclusions.
(Previous
Reference:
W . M . (40) 2 9 0 t h
Conclusions,
M i n u t e 1.)
Foreign
Information.
U s e of N a v a l
B a s e s in t h e
Americas.
3. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs drew attention
to the following telegrams :—
.
" Mr. Butler had heard from a good source that a proposal
was afoot that all naval bases belonging to twenty-one American
States should be at the joint services of their naval forces; and
that a second stage was also being canvassed at which Latin
America would offer a reciprocal arrangement for the use of
their naval bases to countries of the British Empire." (Tele­
gram No. 2702 from Washington.)
This telegram was interesting in its implications of a possible
new world order.
Rumours
regarding a
separate peace
with Italv.
" Mr. Yencken suggested that, if there was no objection, a
statement might be broadcast in the British, Spanish and
Italian bulletins stating that ' as a consequence of rumours
circulated in Madrid, it is officially denied that Italy has made
approaches to the British Embassy in Madrid, with a view to
making a separate peace with Great Britain.' " (Telegram
No. 1058 from Madrid.)
The Foreign Secretary said that he had heard nothing of such
rumours, but enquiries were being made. In the meantime, he did
not propose to take any action.
Food
s i t u a t i o n in
Spain:
United States
attitude.
The Foreign Secretary said the Cabinet would have read a
number of telegrams referring to the anxieties in regard to the food
situation in Spain.
The United States had adopted a very stiff attitude in this
matter, and he had telegraphed to Washington urging that the
United States should not endeavour to obtain from General Franco
a public declaration of policy in regard to non-belligerency in
exchange for a present of 10,000 tons of wheat, and had suggested
that we should be content with a private assurance.
The War Cabinet took note of the above statements.
Blockade
Policy.
France.
(Previous
Reference:
VJ.K
:40) 2 9 0 t h
Conclusions,
M i n u t e 7.)
4. The First Lord- of the A dmiralty said that during the next
two or three days forces would be available which could be used to
apply contraband control measures to French-escorted convoys
passing through the Straits of Gibraltar. H e proposed to issue
instructions that, if a suitable opportunity arose to bring in French
ships for Contraband Control during that period, action should be
taken.
The Prime Minister said that he agreed to the action proposed.
No doubt an endeavour would be made to intercept Vichy French
ships in other parts of the world. It would not, of course, be possible
to continue to apply contraband control measures continuously, since
our Naval forces had many other tasks to perform.
The War Cabinet took note with approval of this statement.
F r a n c e : the
French F l e e t .
Jean
and
Bart
Richelieu.
(Previous
Reference:
W . M . (40) 2 8 6 t h
Conclusions,
M i n u t e 3.)
5. The Prime Minister read to the W a r Cabinet a personal
telegram from President Roosevelt setting out the answer which the
President had received to the personal message he had sent to
Marshal Petain in regard to these ships.
The War Cabinet took note of this statement.
6. The Home Secretary and Minister of Home Security said
that the scale of attack in the previous 24 hours had been con­
siderably lighter. Casualties had been as follows :—
By D a y -
London : None killed, 3 injured. Elsewhere : 4 killed, 15 injured. By Night— London : None killed or injured. Elsewhere : 6 killed, 46 injured. Very little damage of importance had been done.
The War Cabinet took note of the above statement.
7. The Home Secretary said that at the Meeting of the Civil
Defence Executive Sab-Committee held that morning, the following
views had been expressed by representatives of Departments :—
The Ministries of Supply and of Aircraft Production did
not favour more than one day's holiday. The Admiralty and
the Post Office were willing to fall in with whatever arrange­
ment was agreed upon. The Scottish Office thought that it
would be difficult to ensure only one day's interruption of
production during Hogmanay.
The Ministry of Transport
urged that, for transport purposes, Christmas Day should be
treated as a Sunday, and no special travel facilities given. The
Ministry of Labour pointed out that certain industries were
working short time and that output might benefit from anticipa­
tion of a holiday and the rest attained thereby. Whatever
decision the Government took, it would be necessary to carry
with them the representatives of employers and Trade Unions.
The question of pay for work on Bank Holiday should be dealt
with in accordance with the trade agreements operative in
each industry, or by special arrangement where no such agree­
ment existed.
The Minister of Labour and National Service pointed out that,
on the assumption that production was stopped for only one week­
day at Christmas, certain special problems would arise.
For
example, was it necessary that distributive shops should open on
Boxing Day, although virtually no business would be done on that
day?
The view generally expressed was that some latitude should be
allowed for special arrangements in cases of this kind.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer informed the War Cabinet
that he had consulted the Banks which were prepared to fall in
with whatever general arrangement was made.
The W a r C a b i n e t ­
(1) A greed that the general principle should be that production
would be stopped for only one day at Christmas,
viz., Christmas Day in England and Wales, and New
Year's Day in Scotland.
(2) Invited the Minister of Labour and National Service to
discuss the matter on this basis with employers' and
workers' organisations.
(3) Agreed that it should be an instruction to the Minister of
Labour and National Service:
(a) to allow reasonable latitude to deal with special
cases; e.g., the distributive t r a d e s :
(b) that payment for work on Bank Holiday should be
dealt with in accordance with the trade agree­
ments operative in each industry.
Agriculture.
Proposed
i n c r e a s e of
h o m e food
production
in 1 9 4 1 .
8. The W a r Cabinet had before them :—
Memorandum by the Minister for Aircraft
(W.P.
g t a t e
0
2
W . M . (40) 2 3 7 t h
Conclusions,
M i n u t e 1.) '
Production,
283.)
f o r
S c o t l a n d
a
n
d
t h e
0
Extract from Minutes of the Food Policy Committee.
(Previous
Reference:
(4)
Memorandum by the Minister of Agriculture, the Secretary
Home Secretary. (W.P. (G.) (40)
o f
3
(G.)
(W.P.
m
,
(G.)
.
(40)
.
'
303.)
.
,
.
,
.
,.
,-i
The principal points made in the course of discussion were the
following:­
(i) By raising the yield of the existing arable acreage by
5 per cent., which was by no means impossible, we could
secure an addition to our food supply equivalent to the
addition which would result from ploughing up a million
acres of grassland and sowing it to crops,
(ii) The best method of dealing with farms where the tenant
was lacking in the cash or knowledge necessary to make
his farm fully productive was for Agricultural Executive
Committees to carry out the necessary work on his
behalf, even if they cannot in all cases recover the whole
cost.
(iii) One of the main problems was that of drainage, for which
grants of 50 per cent, were available at present. An
effective stimulus would be given if the balance of cost
could be advanced to Drainage Authorities, pending its
recovery from the land-owners, over a period of years.
About 5,000-10,000 more workers would have to be
employed, and care would have to be taken that the gangs
were not dispersed when work was completed on a
particular farm. They should be under the orders of the
authorities concerned in the Drainage Schemes and
available for work in any part of the Authority' s area.
(iv) The Minister of Shipping drew attention to the recom­
mendation in' W . P . (G.) (40) 282 that 200,000 tons of
fertilisers should be imported from the United States.
The only way of making the necessary shipping available
was at the expense of other items in the food imports
programme. This would give rise to some difficult
priority questions.
The Minister of Food said that he agreed generally,
subject to the proviso that room could not be found in the
import programme for fertilisers (which would not
provide food until next year) until this year's food
supply had been assured.
(v) The Minister of A griculture and Fisheries said that, after
the implications of the new policy had been worked out,
it would be necessary to make a public announcement. I t
was important that there should be no leakage in the
meantime.
The W a r Cabinet : - ­
(1) Gave a general approval to the recommendations of the
Food Policy Committee as set out in W P . (G.) (40) 303,
including the offer of a guarantee to the agricultural
industry that the present system of fixed prices and an
assured market would be maintained for the duration of
the war and for at least one year thereafter.
(2) Invited the Food Policy Committee to examine the implica­
tions of the new policy and to agree upon the terms of a
public announcement.
The announcement should
include a statement that the Government, which repre­
sented all political parties, recognised the importance of
maintaining after the war a healthy and well-balanced
agriculture as an essential feature of national policy.
(3) Invited the Food Policy Committee also to consider the
priority to be afforded to the import of 200,000 tons of
fertilisers from the United States, in relation to the
existing food imports programme.
(4) Recognised that Scottish agriculture presented problems of
its own, which called for special action, e.g., the main­
tenance of hill sheep farms and methods of dealing with
pests, such as rabbits and bracken.
(5) Agreed that it would be impossible to recover, in the first
year, the full cost of the cash advances made to land
owners or farmers in respect of works for improving the
productivity of their land. The Food Policy Committee
was invited to settle the terms on which repayment
should be made.
Machine
Tools.
(Previous
Reference:
' W . M . (40) 2 7 4 t h
Conclusions,
M i n u t e 5.)
Proposed
additional
o r d e r in t h e
U n i t e d S t a t e s
for d e l i v e r y t o
the Ministry
-of Aircraft
Production.
P r o v i s i o n of
Machine
Tools for
Government
Training
Centres.
W . M . (40) 2 7 4 t h
Conclusions,
M i n u t e 5.
9. The War Cabinet had before them Memoranda by the
Minister of Aircraft Production, the Minister of Labour and the
Minister without Portfolio (W.P. (G.) (40) 286, 295 and 299).
The Minister of A ireraft Production explained that he wanted
to place a further order in the United States for machine tools
costing £10 millions over and above the orders described in the
Memorandum by the Minister without Portfolio. H e wished to
place this order direct with American industry, and not through
the British Purchasing Commission. He would, however, expect his
Department to receive their due proportion of the outstanding
orders referred to in that Memorandum.
The Minister of Supply said that we were already asking for
delivery of £22-J millions worth of machine tools in the second six
months of 1941 from the United States. I t would be very difficult to
fulfil this programme, and he did not see how American industry
could accept an additional order.
The W a r Cabinet were reminded that Mr. Purvis was on the
point of reaching London, and the Prime Minister thought that he
should be consulted before aNdecision was reached on this proposal.
The Minister of Laboui\and
National Service said that his
Centres were training persons whom the factories could not train :
e.g., men between 50 and 60, coming from trades unconnected with
engineering. A high proportion of persons trained in these Centres
went to aircraft factories.
The Minister of Aircraft Production said that every aircraft
factory throughout the country attached more value to machine tools
than to labour. He strongly urged that all available machine tools
should at once be allocated to productive establishments.
The Minister without Portfolio said that he had made arrange­
ments which would result in the Ministry of Labour Centres
receiving roughly three-quarters of their requirements of machine
tools.
The W a r Cabinet : —
(1) Invited the Minister without Portfolio and the Ministers in
charge of the Supply Departments to ascertain
Mr. Purvis's views on the proposal that an additional
order for machine tools, value £10 millions, should be
placed directly by the Ministry of Aircraft Production
in the United States.
(2) Reaffirmed the decisions reached on the 21st October in
regard to the provision of machine tools for Government
Training Centres.
(3) Adopted the recommendations made by the Minister with­
out Portfolio in paragraph 13 of his Memorandum
(W.P. (G.) (40) 299).
Man-Power.
Requirements
of t h e
Services and
of I n d u s t r y .
(Previous
Reference:
W . M . (40) 193rd
Conclusions,
M i n u t e 1.)
10. The War Cabinet had before them a Memorandum
(W.P. (G.) (40) 296) by the Chairman of the Production Council and
the Economic Policy Committee, summarising the man-power
requirements for the purpose of carrying out the Service pro­
grammes, and the steps which had to be taken if the necessary
increases in the engineering industry were to be achieved.
I n the course of a preliminary discussion the Minister of Air­
craft Production expressed some apprehension as to certain recom­
mendations in the Memorandum, on the ground that they might
result in interference with the management of factories and lead to
some loss of present production. I n the Minister's view, the
situation did not permit of any steps which would sacrifice present
production. Further, the situation was so uncertain that, while it
was clear that an increase in engineering labour was required, no
exact calculation could be made of the additional numbers required
over a given period. I n his view, the limiting factor to-day and in
the future would be machine tools rather than labour supply.
The Minister of Labour and National Service pointed out that
over a million men would be required by the Services over the next
12 -months, and he would be failing in his duty if he did not make
plans on a sufficiently comprehensive scale to make good this figure
and to provide the increase called for.
After some further discussion, the W a r Cabinet invited :—
The Minister without Portfolio (Chairman),
The Minister of Aircraft Production,
The Minister of Labour and National Service,
The First Lord of the Admiralty,
The Minister of Supply,
to have a further discussion in regard to the recommen­
dations contained in the Memorandum before the W a r
Cabinet, and to report whether those recommendations
were acceptable to them, with or without modification.
Richmond Terrace, S. W. 1, November 19, 1940.