Editorial Note
The Deputies for the Former Italian Colonies of the Council of Foreign Ministers held 17 meetings between October 3 and November 22, 1947. These meetings, held in London at the invitation of the United Kingdom Government, were in pursuance of the provisions of Article 23 and Annex XI of the Treaty of Peace with Italy which charged the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and France with the task of jointly determining the final disposition of Italy’s former colonies in Africa.
Principal members of the delegations at these meetings of the Deputies were:
United States
Deputy
Lewis W. Douglas, Ambassador in the United Kingdom.
Alternate Deputy and Adviser
Waldemar J. Gallman, Counselor of Embassy, London.
Advisers
Philip H. Bagby, Foreign Service Officer.
John E. Utter, Division of African Affairs, Department of State.
Alfred E. Wellons, Division of African Affairs, Department of State.
United Kingdom
Deputy
Sir Noel Charles, former British Representative in Italy.
Advisers
Frank Edmund Stafford, Egyptian Department, Foreign Office.
R. D. J. Scott-Fox, Assistant Head, Egyptian Department, Foreign Office.
I. E. Bell, Egyptian Department, Foreign Office.
Soviet Union
Deputy
Georgiy Nikolayevich Zaroubin, Ambassador in the United Kingdom.
Alternate Deputy and Adviser
Georgiy Filippovich Saksin, Counselor of Embassy, London.
Adviser
Ivan Mikhailovich Martinov, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
France
Deputy
René Massigli, Ambassador in the United Kingdom.
Advisers
Etienne Burin des Roziers, Foreign Ministry.
Jacquin de Margerie, Conference Secretariat, Foreign Ministry.
Colonel de la Chapelle.
Pierre Franckfort, Second Counselor of Embassy, London.
[Page 607]The first 13 meetings of the Deputies, October 3 to November 5, were concerned with determining the matters of procedure for the Deputies and the terms of reference, itinerary, and time-table of the Commission of Investigation to be dispatched to the former Italian colonies. The remaining four meetings of the Deputies, November 12–22, were given over to a hearing of the views of the Ethiopian, Italian, and Egyptian Governments regarding the disposition of the former colonies and to concluding activities of the first phase of the Deputies session. The documentation that follows includes the principal agreements reached by the Deputies and reports on the hearing of the views of Ethiopia, Italy and Egypt. Documentation on the meetings of the Deputies, February–September 1948, and on the Report of the Commission of Investigation is scheduled for publication in a subsequent volume of Foreign Relations.
The records of decisions and official documents of the Deputies together with the United States Delegation minutes of the meetings are included in the Council of Foreign Ministers files, Lot M–88, Boxes 110–111. The United States Delegation reported by telegram to Washington on each meeting of the Deputies. These messages together with Department comments, instructions, and related papers are included in Department file 865.014.