Cablegram S17 MOSCOW, 12 October 1944
TOP SECRET IMMEDIATE
Further discussions between Eden and Molotov [1] yesterday resulted in agreement on major matters in regard to Bulgaria. The Armistice will be concluded in Moscow. A joint British, American and Soviet Control Commission will operate in Bulgaria.
2. Agreement was also reached in respect of Armistice terms for Hungary and negotiations with Hungary are proceeding satisfactorily.
3. Representatives of the Polish Committee of National Liberation arrived in Moscow yesterday. Representatives of the Polish Government in London headed by Mikolajczyk [2] and Romer [3] arrived in Moscow this morning. It is expected that the Prime Minister and Eden will concentrate on getting a satisfactory settlement of the Polish dispute.
4. Speaking at a dinner given by the British Ambassador in honour of Stalin and Churchill last night, Marshal Stalin paid great tribute to the part the United States of America has played in the war and said that without the help of the United States of America, Great Britain and Russia could not win the war. He went on to praise the alliance between these three nations and finished off his speech by saying ‘not only will we curb the aggressor in Europe, but we will curb him elsewhere, including Australia’.
5. Earlier in the evening Marshal Stalin had asked me what we Australians were doing quite a lot, but I was more interested in knowing when he was going to come in with us against Japan. I believe that it was this that prompted his reference to Australia quoted herein.
6. A leading member of Churchill’s personal staff told us that Churchill intends to come to Australia at the earliest possible moment with a large staff of advisers to establish a kind of headquarters there to show the flag and organise a spectacular British drive against Japan. He said that Churchill was very keen on this and on doing it in a big way to impress Asiatic opinion about Britain’s interest in the Pacific. This might possibly be done in various [4] stages of the war against Germany but impossible yet to fix approximate date or make other detailed arrangements. The prospect was being talked over in innermost circles. He added that it was impossible for the Allies to make a full scale drive into Germany until port facilities at Antwerp were capable of full use by the Allies.
MALONEY
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1 Soviet Foreign Minister.
2 Polish Prime Minister.
3 Polish Foreign Minister.
4 The original was here annotated ‘mutilated’.
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[AA:A989, E44/970/73]