840.48/3378: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Kennedy) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 16—11:15 a.m.]
661. Department’s 284, February 15, 6 p.m., Embassy’s 447, February 23, 8 p.m., 480, February 27, 7 p.m., first paragraph and 491,-February 28, 9 p.m., first paragraph.15
Following letter dated March 15 received this morning from the Foreign Office:
“I must apologise for not answering your letter of February 22nd before this. You will appreciate that the question which you raised on that occasion in regard to the passage of American Red Cross supplies for Poland is a matter of high policy on which Lord Halifax16 has been in communication with the British Ambassador in Washington.
[Page 761]I am glad to be able to inform you that His Majesty’s Government have agreed to allow passage through the Contraband Control of medical and other related supplies from the American Red Cross to the total value of $250,000 (including the value of the shipments already made) for the relief of victims of the war in Poland, without insisting on compliance with the conditions laid down in Lord Drogheda’s letter to you of the 27th December.
It was a great pleasure to me to listen to what you were good enough to tell me at the Foreign Office and you may be sure that His Majesty’s Government are deeply sympathetic towards the relief of distress in Poland, provided that it can be organized in such a way as to ensure that the benefits accrue to the Poles rather than to the Germans.”
Please inform Red Cross.