E J London This telegram must be closely paraphrased be- Dated September 18, 1941 fore being communicated to anyone. (SC) Rec'd 11:45 a.m. Secretary of State, Washington. 4354, September 18, 2 p.m. PERSONAL AND FOR THE PRESIDENT. Yesterday I talked with Oumansky. He came in with Maisky. 0umansky had just gotten word from Washington that the Russian air contingent here would not be given either a B-24 or a-B-17. He tells me they had asked for five large bombers, that they had agreed to take four medium bombers but believed that you were going to get them one large bomber with automatic pilot and he hoped with a sperry sight. He felt that the arrival of this ranking group of Russian airmen in one of our best planes in Moscow would have a marked psycho- logical effect and lift confidence there. Since he told me he had had his conversations with you personally, I thought I should report the matter directly to you. He attached great importance to it. WINANT BB |