Cablegram [Winch 14] [1] LONDON, 20 March 1942
Your telegram of 20th. [2] Course you propose of laying telegrams you mention will be quite satisfactory to me provided that you include also mine of the 14th. [3] I note from press report of your summary of White Paper that you are also including mine of the 19th [4] and yours of the 20th. I agree to this. I am much obliged to you for your last paragraph in your telegram of March 20th. As soon as decision was taken to make the statement Dominions Secretary sent you his telegram marked most immediate containing the text. [5] B.B.C. announcement was not made Until 12.13 pm British Summer time in the Pacific Empire Service after my announcement had been made to Parliament at noon. Regards. [6]
CHURCHILL
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1 Inserted from the Prime Minister’s Dept inward cablegram register (AA:A3642, 5).
2 Document 427.
3 See Document 413, note 5.
4 Document 426.
5 Clement Attlee’s cablegram 324 (On file AA:A981, Great Britain 13B) was dispatched from London at 11.25 a.m. on 19 March and received in Canberra late the same day.
6 On 21 March Churchill advised Curtin in cablegram Winch 15 (see AA:A3195, 1942, 1.11693 and AA:A3642, 5) that in view of the fact that the Commonwealth Gust had permitted the publication in Australia of extensive summaries of the cablegrams exchanged between them on the Casey appointment, he had found it necessary to publish the complete texts. On 25 March Curtin tabled fourteen documents in the House of Representatives, including his own cablegrams Johcu 25, 26 and 28 to Churchill (Documents 409, 413 and 427), his cablegram SW16 to Casey (Document 416), Casey’s cablegrams S10 (Document 414), S16 (Document 423) and an unnumbered cablegram of 19 March advising that Churchill’s announcement of his appointment was imminent; Churchill’s cablegrams Winch 11 (Document 406), Winch 12 (Document 412), Winch 13 (see Document 413, note 5), Winch 14 (Document 431) and Winch 15 (cited in this note); and Attlee’s cablegrams 324 (see note 5 above) and 326 (Document 426). The references to Menzies in Winch 12 and Johcu 28 and the reference to Roosevelt in Casey’s S10 were deleted. See Commonwealth of Australia, Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives, 16th Parliament, vol. 1, pp. 303-4, and the reprint of the documents as tabled on file AA:A981, Great Britain 13B.
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[AA:A3195, 1942, 1.11693]