348Z.1123 Grieve, Robert/54: Telegram
The Ambassador in Italy (Phillips) to the Secretary of State
[Received February 3—3 p.m.]
157. Embassy’s 1076, November 8, 2 p.m. The following is a translation of a note verbale together with enclosure dated January 31st, 1941 (but not received by the Embassy until February 3d) from the Foreign Office with regard to the bombing of the Sudan Interior Mission at Doro:
“With reference to the Embassy’s letter of November 1, 1940, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has the honor to enclose herewith a copy of the report from the competent Italian military authorities regarding the alleged bombardment of Doro. The said authorities after careful investigation state that it is to be excluded that the air action in question was carried out by Italian airplanes and emphasize the point that the Government of the Province concerned had in fact given orders that the two missions whose presence at Doro and Chali was perfectly well known should be left undisturbed where they were.”
Translation of enclosure follows:45
“The careful investigation immediately ordered by the high command in Italian East Africa has given the following results: [Page 721]
‘At Chali (Kurmuk) there is a group of American missionaries composed of two men one woman and one boy; another group of American missionaries composed of two men and three women carries on its work at Doro.
These missionaries in due time informed the commander of the Kurmuk garrison that they belonged to the Sudan Interior Mission and that they were engaged in religious work exclusively.
The Galla Sidama Government gave instructions that these missions be left undisturbed where they are.
The report of the bombardment of the said mission as broadcast by the British is in so far as we are concerned unfounded.
The Galla Sidama Government has caused an investigation to be made and states that it is to be excluded. We have twice bombarded the locality of Daga River Post and there is corroborating proof that this was the locality and not another. Furthermore the dates on which the bombardments took place do not coincide.
The crews of the planes which carried out this action likewise confirm that the locality bombarded was beyond possibility of mistake Daga River Post (which is easily identifiable because of its location on the Daga River), and not Doro.
The only matter which is known to us is that during our first bombardment of Kurmuk (then British) on July 13th last a missionary who was in that locality was wounded in the shoulder but not seriously.’”
[The notes here printed were released to the press by the Department of State on January 31 and February 10, 1941. No record of further representations to the Italian Government regarding this incident has been found in Department files.]
- Released to the press, February 10, 1941. See Department of State Bulletin, February 15, 1941, p. 184.↩