Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1943, Europe, Volume II

860H.00/1421/7/5

Memorandum of Conversation, by the Under Secretary of State (Welles)

[ Washington ,] January 7, 1943.

The Ambassador of Yugoslavia called to see me at his request.

The Ambassador referred to his conversation with Secretary Hull which took place at the suggestion of the White House some ten days ago,²¹ and inquired whether any decision had as yet been reached by this Government with regard to the issuance of some official statement regarding General Mihailovich. He said that he had received two further messages from his Government, one of them directly from the King, requesting him to see the President personally in order that the President might be informed of the very great importance which the King and the members of his Cabinet attached to the official statement desired from this Government. The Ambassador said however that, in view of the fact that the White House had referred him to the Department of State, he did not wish again to request an interview with the President on this subject.

I told the Ambassador that I was aware of his conversation with the Secretary of State but that I would have to inform myself as to what final decision might have been reached with regard to the matter. I said that, as the Ambassador knew, my own belief was that the best way of indicating the belief of this Government that General Mihailovich was rendering a service of outstanding military value to the United Nations was for General Eisenhower²² to send some message to General Mihailovich similar to that sent to the latter recently by General Alexander,²³ which message could be made public. I said it was my belief that a suggestion of this kind had been made to the Chief of Staff²⁴ but that I was not informed of any reply that might have been received.

S[umner] W[elles]

21. See memorandum by the Secretary of State, December 28, 1942, Foreign Relations, 1942, vol. iii, p. 836.
22. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander in Chief, Allied Expeditionary Force, North Africa.
23. Gen. Sir Harold Alexander, Commander in Chief of the British Forces in the Middle East.
24. Presumably reference is to the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, Gen. George C. Marshall.