Cablegram unnumbered LONDON, 18 March 1938
SECRET AND PERSONAL
Many thanks for your telegram of 16th March. [1] I am glad that the information which I gave has been of assistance and that the press are proving helpful in informing the minds of the public. I think the obscurity to which you refer must be due to an error in decyphering my telegram. [2] The passage in question reads :-
‘The idea that in the event of war we may not be able to defend our overseas possessions is entirely false.’ I trust this will clear up the difficulty.
NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN
_
1 Document 137.
2 A note attached to this cable in Canberra stated that Chamberlain’s original message had been checked and that the error had occurred in ciphering in London.
_
[AA : A1608, 051/1/1]