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never seen him as reasonable or as friendly; but
he may not stay put. It is De Gaulle's opinion 
that an invasion of France is necessary if we are 
to hold the French people, and that even if it 
resulted in another Dunkirk, it would be worth 
the effort. He is fearful that a failure to attempt 
an invasion will depress the French and increase 
German control in France.
 
     I hope that you will have an opportunity to
get Lyttelton's opinion on the independent elections, 
and also Averell's. Their opinions differ, but I 
feel that they could each throw some light on the 
general situation here. A victory in Lybia would, 
in my opinion, put the Prime Minister in a very 
strong position both in Parliament and in the 
country. At the moment, the British have prevented 
the Germans from carrying out their planned campaign, 
but Rommel is still strong, and both sides have 
suffered heavy casualties. The six-pounders have 
been effective, and Auchinleck has reported very 
favorably on the Grant tank. The Germans' initiating 
the attack allowed the English to get the slow 
infantry tank into early action in the engagement. 
The reports also show that the English concentrated 
their artillery fire against the enemy tanks, and 
used they own tanks against weaker objectives to 
a larger extent than in any previous engagement.
A success in this campaign should particularly in-
fluence neutral opinion in Turkey and the Mediter-
ranean, as well as general opinion elsewhere.
 
          You undoubtedly know that Portal is the only 
Chief of Staff officer whom we can count on for the 
present to support an early  42 attack. Again 
reverting to this problem, I believe a Supreme 
Commander of all the services is necessary to ensure 
success, and the only man I can think of who is 
outstanding, to carry forward this project, is 
General Marshall. You might not be able to spare 
him, and the British would be reluctant to accept 
him, with Brooke against, Pound neutral, and Portal
supporting.
 
          The other day, I cabled you that I had been 
asked by all factions if I would sit in with the
Pacific Council. I wired back that I thought this
 
                                           would/