This telegram must be closely (Paris) Vichy
paraphrased before being Dated July 28, 1942
communicated to anyone. (SC) Rec'd 5:47 p.m.
Secretary of State,
Washington.
1099, July 28, 5 p.m.
Bern's 3431, July 25, 11a.m.
We have EndEavored thus far without success to obtain
confirmation of the visit of a German Naval Commission
to Toulon on July 14. Both the military and Naval Attaches
have been given categorical denials of this information by
reliable official contacts. While it is always possible (since
presumably it would have been undertaken with greatest secrecy)
that such a vist may have occurred unknown to our informants, it
does not seem likely that it could have been carried out without
the knowledge of some of our reliable sources of information. The statement
attributed to the informant mentioned in Bern's telgram that "France now
has 106 submarines" does not coincide with our best information which
indicates that the French have only about half this number. We shall
continue, however, to follow this closely.
In so far as Darlan is concerned, a member of his staff
states that while he is still as anti-British as ever,
b~_n undErtakEn wit.h grza~-
may h.~vz occurrid unknown
s~m ~.ik~_ly theft it could
th~ knowlzdg~ of ,~om‚ of our
r~lisbl~ sources of information.. Th~
to the i-nfo.rm~nt m~htion~-d in BErn' s
now h~s 106 subm2rin~s" do~s
information which indicates
..
z
h~lf this number. ~ sh~1!
t~l~gram that "France
not coincide with our best
th2t the Fr‚nch hsv~ only about
continuE, ho,~,,zv~r, to follow
this c!os~ly.
st~ff st~t~s that
D~rl~n is' conc~rnzd,
~ member of his
anti-British