BRITISH EMBASSY                       
 
                        WASHINGTON, D. C.                   
                                                            
                                                            
                                                            
 
                         March 9th, 1943.                   
 
                                                            
                                                            
 
                                                            
 
 
                                                            
                    Dear Mr. President,                     
 
      You will perhaps remember that on December 8th last I gave you 
      a copy of a Foreign Office memorandum on the subject of Hess. 
                                                            
 
      Since that date the Foreign Office have been approached by the 
      International Red Cross with a request from Frau Hess to find 
      out the true state of her husband's health. Refusal of this request 
      might have made the task of the International Red Cross delegates 
      who are dealing with prisoner-of-war questions in Germany more 
      difficult. It was therefore decided that while permission could 
      not be granted to representatives of the International Red Cross 
   to see Hess, a report on his health signed by two well-kn
                                                            
 
                                                            
 
 
                                                            
                          British                           
                                                            
 
                                                            
 
 
                                                            
                       The Honorable                        
 
                      Franklin D. Roosevelt,                
 
           President of the United States of America,       
 
                         Washington, D.C.