740.00119 Control (Japan)/11–545
The Secretary of State to the Secretary of War (Patterson)
My Dear Mr Secretary: I have received your letter of November 5, 1945, in which you raise the question of a possible change in policy regarding the use of Allied forces in the occupation of Japan.
My feeling has been that in view of the delicacy of our current conversations with the USSR regarding control of Japan it was just as well to refrain for the time being from raising the question of Allied military participation in the occupation. However, in view of our firm commitments in the premises to our Allies and of the urgency of Australian representations regarding the dispatch of a British Commonwealth force to Japan, I am instructing our Embassy at Moscow31 to inform the Soviet authorities that we are discussing the details of a proposed British Commonwealth force in Japan and that we would be willing to receive in Japan a USSR force similar to the British Commonwealth force, to be integrated into the forces under the Supreme Commander.
Sincerely yours,
- Infra.↩