Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, The Conferences at Cairo and Tehran, 1943

740.0011 EW 1939/32015

The Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army (McNarney) to the Secretary of State

secret—security

Washington, 16 November 1943.

Dear Mr. Secretary: I am enclosing a copy of the memorandum from the United States Chiefs of Staff which is being presented to the Combined Chiefs of Staff. The United States Chiefs of Staff request that you take up immediately with the British Foreign Office the matter of guarding the security of the forthcoming conference and urge that steps be taken which will insure that there is no further violation thereof.

Sincerely yours,

Joseph T. McNarney

Lieutenant General, U. S. Army Deputy Chief of Staff

[Enclosure]

The United States Chiefs of Staff to the British Chiefs of Staff¹

secret—security

[Washington, 16 November 1943.]

Violation of Conference Security

We have received a reliable report that British censorship authorities in Cairo passed the following news dispatch and that British censorship authorities in London have cleared this dispatch:

“Possibly foreshadowing international developments Mena House Hotel subshadow pyramids favorite exdiplomaticers ministers will closed publicward soon profumigation quote in anticipating visits conversations great portent to held Cairo unquote”

Obviously this action is a flagrant violation of conference security, and the implications and possible repercussions are most grave. We urge that the British Government take extraordinary steps to insure that no further information is released which would tend to jeopardize the security of the conference.

We are requesting the State Department to bring this violation of security to the attention of the Foreign Office immediately, and to request that steps be taken to prevent any other occurrences of this kind.²

1. Sent by the United States Joint Deputy Chiefs of Staff, in the name of the Joint Chiefs.
2. The Department promptly called this security violation to the attention of the British authorities by way of the British Embassy at Washington and the American Embassy at London (740.0011 EW 1939/32446a and 841.711/3801a). Winant reported on November 17 that Eden had said that urgent steps had been taken to prevent any further leakage through British censorship (841.711/3801½).