Foreign Relations of the United States, Conference at Quebec, 1944

J.C.S. Piles

Memorandum by the United States Chiefs of Staff¹

top secret
C.C.S. 677

[Quebec,] 12 September 1944.

Future Operations in the Mediterranean

The views of the United States Chiefs of Staff with regard to General Wilson’s progress report as submitted in Naf 774² and Medcos 181³ are as follows:

Part or all of the Fifth Army should be transferred to France, if it can be used effectively in the attack on Germany. The timing of the transfer and the route, whether overland or by sea, is dependent on the progress and outcome of the present offensive in Italy.

If General Eisenhower indicates that he does not require a part or all of the U.S. forces now in Italy, they should then be utilized to clear the Germans from Italy and to assist British forces in operations to the northeastward toward Vienna.

The transfer of part or all of the Twelfth Air Force to France should be dependent on the progress and outcome of the present offensive in Italy, and more particularly on the disposition of the Fifth Army. The Fifteenth Air Force can best perform its mission by remaining at its Foggia bases.

1. For the consideration of this paper by the Combined Chiefs of Staff at their 172d Meeting, September 12, 1944, see ante, p. 302.
2. Ante, p. 230.
3. Ante, p. 224.