AUSTRALIAN LEGATION,
                                                                                WASHINGTON, D.C.
 
                                            December 13th, 1941
 
                                  My dear Mr. Secretary of State,
                                                I enclose herewith a personal message
                                  which I have just received and which I have been
                                  asked by the Prime Minister of Australia, the
                                  Honourable John Curtin, to convey to the President.
                                                I also attach copy of an appreciation
                                  of the situation regarding the defence of Rabaul
                                  and New Caledonia by the Australian Chiefs of
                                  Staff, which is referred to in Mr. Curtin's message
                                  to the President.
                                                                      Yours sincerely,
 
      
 
 
     The Secretary of State of the United States, 
          Washington, D.C.