Draft of Franklin D. Roosevelt to Winston Churchill (June 17, 1941)

by Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Code Room - State

DRAFT

June 17, 1941.

FOR FORMER NAVAL PERSON

Army is studying possible ferry from Natal with with idea that African landing places might be three in number -- Bathurst, Freetown and Liberia. I see no reason for any United States lease, but if the plan works out we would deliver the planes either in Natal or on African coast. Also, we would undertake the building of any necessary servicing facilities. I feel there should be three possible landing places because of proximity of Bathurst to Dakar. When your Air Vice Marshal arrives our people will immediately confer with him. I find a feeling here that up to recently there has been a good deal of delay in delivery between Takarabi and lower Egypt, chiefly through difficulty in servicing the small hopping stones on the way across the Continent. Please let me know how you regard the working out of this problem.

I have distinct feeling in my bones that things are looking up with you and with us. After freezing the German and Italian assets on Saturday, I closed the German Consulates and Agencies yesterday, and the reaction here is, I should say, 90% favorable.