AUSTRALIAN LEGATION,
                                             WASHINGTON, D.C.
 
MR. PRESIDENT:
 
                                                  I have been asked by the Prime Minister of
 
           Australia, the Honourable John Curtin, to convey to you the following personal message:-  
 
     "On the entry of the United States of America into the war with Germany and Italy as well
as with Japan, I desire on behalf of the people of Australia to express to you as representative of
the people of America, how greatly we have been heartened and strengthened by the knowledge
that the English-speaking world and the majority of mankind are now arrayed against the common
foe.
 
2.   We in Australia are firmly resolved, come what may, to do our utmost to defend to the
limit of our capacity, the Commonwealth of Australia and adjacent territories of the South West
Pacific, and to cooperate in the general plan of the defeat of the enemy.     As you are no doubt
aware, we have land, sea and air forces in Malaya and in the Netherlands East Indies area.
 
3.   When risks to Australia were not as great as at the present time, we sent some of our
naval and air forces as far afield as Britain, and we have three Army Divisions and units of our Air
Forces in the Middle East. We have also contributed several thousand men to the Empire Air
Training Scheme, and we hope to be able to continue our part in it.
 
4.   As a Nation bordering on the Pacific Ocean, the entry of Japan into the war has brought a
new threat near to our country. We deeply deplore the losses sustained by your naval and air
forces at Hawaii, and by the British Navy at Malaya. ForLt some time these events will no doubt
minimise the otherwise deterrent effect of American and British sea power on Japanese
operations.
 
5.    The Government of the Commonwealth of Australia has warmly welcomed the opportunity
of cooperating with the United States Forces in the provision of a naval base at Rabaul, and
aerodrome facilities in territories under the control of the Commonwealth and in New Caledonia.
However, the changed naval
 
 
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