Page:Draft of letter Lord Lothian to Cordell Hull - NARA - 194834.jpg

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Draft letter from H.M.Ambassador to the Secretary of State of the United States.

Not for publication.

Dear Mr. Secretary,

I am writing with reference to my note of to-day regarding my Government's offer of certain naval and air facilities to the United States Government to inform you that I have been authorised in this connexion to draw your attention to and to confirm on behalf of the Prime Minister certain statements made by him in the House of Commons on June 4th and August 20th.

On June 4th Mr. Churchill said:

"We shall never surrender and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this land or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, will carry on the struggle until in God's good time the New World, with all its power and might, sets forth to the liberation and rescue of the Old."

On August 20th Mr. Churchill said:

"In our own case, if we had been put in the terrible position of France - now happily impossible, although it would have been the duty of all war leaders to fight on here to the end - it would also have been their duty, as I indicated in my speech of June 4th, to provide as far as possible for the naval security of Canada and our Dominions and to make sure they had the means to carry on the struggle from beyond the oceans."