Office of the Historian

740.0011 (E. W.)/11–742: Telegram

The Chief of Staff, War Department (Marshall), to the Consul General at Algiers (Cole)10

[Washington,] October 27, 1942—10:30 a.m.

No. M–20. This message for Murphy. Herewith is relay of message from Eisenhower. Message begins:

1.
Commander-in-Chief has approved your draft letter to Kingpin subject to change in last paragraph. Second sentence which starts with “However, during the initial phases” and ends with “while the operation is in progress” has been deleted and the following substituted therefor: “However, during those phases of the operation that involve the landing, establishing the security of French North Africa, and providing the necessary bases, it is considered essential that the American Command and organization which has been set up with so much effort and difficulty for this special operation, should remain unchanged. By the time this has been accomplished it is to be assumed that the French Forces, reinforced by the matériel support provided by the Allied Nations will be sufficiently strong to insure the complete security of French territory. Thereafter the primary interest of the American Commander lies in the use of the area as a base of further operations against the Axis, and the defense of French North Africa will be turned over to French Command.” The rest of the letter remains unchanged.
2.
I request urgently that you expedite news of Kingpin’s decision. If favorable, furnish complete details for his evacuation. This evacuation must occur very soon. It is impossible for American submarine to arrive in time. I have therefore arranged for British submarine, under American command, to stand by at Gibraltar and proceed on short notice when orders are received from me.
3.
Assuming that agreements reached at our conference are confirmed and that you remain convinced of integrity of individuals, you are authorized to notify Kingpin or Flagpole on November 4 of the assault date and of the name of the Commander-in-Chief. Flagpole is acceptable as a Deputy to Commander-in-Chief, whether or not Kingpin accepts invitation.
4.
In event of postponement of assault date, plans are being prepared to insure that you will be notified.

Message ends here.

Marshall
  1. Copy supplied by the Office of the Secretary of Defense under cover of letter of September 7, 1960.↩