740.00119 Control (Germany)/5–545: Telegram
The Ambassador in France ( Caffery ) to the Secretary of State
[Received 1:45 p.m.]
2380. For the Acting Secretary. General de Gaulle asked me to call upon him last evening at eight and delivered to me his reply to the President’s message (reourtel 2344, May 4, 1 p.m.54) a translation of which reads as follows:
“I thank you for your message.
Since you refer to the letter of April 28 addressed by General Eisenhower to me, it is best that I communicate to you the reply that I addressed to him on May 2.55 I am delivering a copy of this text to the Ambassador of the United States requesting that he transmit it to you. Thus, you will be, I hope, better informed as to the origins of the Stuttgart incident.
As matters now stand and in the same spirit of frankness with which you were pleased to address me, I believe it my duty to express the wish that such unfortunate incidents may be avoided. To that end the Allies of France need only recognize that questions so closely touching France as the occupation of German territory should be discussed and decided with her. As you know, this unfortunately has not been the case thus far, in spite of my repeated requests.
I sincerely hope that from this point of view as well as from others, matters may ultimately be clarified. I myself am certain that you yourself and your Government will derive as much satisfaction therefrom as the French Government.”
He also handed me a copy of his letter to General Eisenhower of May 2 which was cabled to the War Department.
General de Gaulle took the occasion to make a number of remarks to me, some of which were of some interest. I am reporting them in an immediately following telegram.56