Letter from Lewis Douglas to Secretary of State Dean Acheson

secur 553 year THE FOREIGN SERVICE 113 OF TFE the UNEFED STATES OF AMERICA LONDON April 11, 1950 yor the Dear While Jack was in London the day following his speech before the Pilgrims, Field Marshal Montgomery (Lord Montgomery of Alamein) suggested that it might be useful if he talked with Jack and me about the military situation in Europe. Accordingly he called on us and gave us briefly the following story : 1. The defence of Europe was a façade. 2. This was largely due to the defects in the French military system which were (a) leve en masse for only a 12-months* period (b) inadequate pattern of command and (e) there was no strong, able and competent man in command of the French Army. (Jouin was obviously the man whom Montgomery would like to see in the position of supreme authority in France) 3. These defects made it improbable that the Military equipment we were sending France could be absorbed. 4. Only the United States could take the necessary steps to persuade the French to correct these defects. Montgomery was not in any way implying that the French should be written off. Quite the contrary. It was quite clear that the French should not be written off but that these deficiencies and infirmities in their military arrangements should be corrected. Inasmuch as it seemed to me important to have our own assessment of the French situation in order that we might avoid mistakes and, should Montgomery's estimate find an echo at home we might have accurate and complete information, I took the occasion when spending Easter with Jack and Ellen at Frankfurt to spend an hour or so with General Handy, General Cannon and Jack on the subject. Both Generals Handy and Cannon did not agree entirely with Montgomery's assessment of the French position. The Honorable ARCHIVES AND RECOROS 1 Dean Acheson, E SERVICE DECLASSIFIED Secretary of State, STATER.6-12-79 Washington, D.C., E0 12065 U.S.A. BYNLTHC NARS, Date 8-7-79