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Documents Relating to New Zealand's Participation in the Second World War 1939–45: Volume III

96 — The Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs to the Prime Minister of New Zealand

page 102

96
The Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs to the Prime Minister of New Zealand

7 December 1941

Circular telegram. japan. My telegrams [Nos. 88 and 92].

The following telegram, dated 6 December, was received from Lord Halifax this morning:

‘1. I communicated your telegram [No. 88] to the President when I saw him this evening (Saturday). He is sending a message to the Emperor for delivery, by Japanese time, on Sunday morning. If no answer has been received by Monday evening, Washington time, he will publish here. As at present advised, if no reply is made or if the answer is unsatisfactory, he will send a warning note to the Japanese Government on Tuesday afternoon or evening, and suggested that we and the Dutch should act similarly on Wednesday morning. All this timetable is subject to speeding up if the Japanese move faster. The President does not think they will, but Hull does.

‘2. He told me the best information the United States could obtain was that the Japanese had about 105,000 troops in Indo-China, 30,000 in the north and 75,000 in the south. These figures did not include the numbers on troop transports that the President thought might be another 20,000 or 30,000.

‘3. He told me that he thought seriously of a possible Japanese threat to Rangoon from land or air.’