COPY                            
 
                      C.A. C's Office                       
 
                  ALLIED FORCE HEADQUATERS                  
 
                     25th November 1944                     
 
                      Dear Mr. Taylor:                      
 
                                                            
 
 
 I have received your letter of the 20th November, 1944,  
             enclosing a copy of the letter you have sent to Sir Harold   
       MacMillan regarding American Relief for Italy.       
 
                                                            
 
 
I would like to give you the present position regarding  
the shipment of supplies from Spain, the Argentine and U. S. A. as it   
            stands today from our point of view.            
 
                                                            
 
 
 Permission was given on 13 October, 1944 for Spanish ships   
to sail to Naples and the Spanish Authorities notified their desire to   
sail the Spanish Naval transport "Tarifa" from Barcelona on the 25   
                      November, 1944.                       
 
                                                            
 
 
 The choice of this vessel was unfortunate as it is   
undesirable to have a neutral warship visit Naples, and the British Naval   
Attache at Madrid was notified accordingly. On 21 November, the British   
Admiralty ruled that the ship should be sailed under the Spanish merchant   
flag, but we have just received information from the Naval Attache at   
Madrid that the sailing has been cancelled. At the moment, the reason for   
this cancellation is not clear, but presumably it is because the Spanish   
authorities have refused to allow the "Tarifa" to wear the merchant flag.   
ve signalled the Naval Attache at Madrid to ascertain the re
 
                                                            
 
 
 With regard to the shipment of supplies from the   
Argentine, no further information has been received of the "Contramirante   
                 Casado" from Buenos Ayres.                 
 
                                                            
 
 
As you say in your letter to Sir Harold MacMillan, the  
first shipment of supplies from the U.S.A. arrived off the Port of Naples   
on 17 November, 1944. Unfortunately, this ship contained also a large   
quantity of military stores, which were required in the forward areas, and   
the original intention was to discharge it completely at Leghorn. Special   
arrangements have now been made for it to discharge at Naples, and it will   
          be on berth there by 26 November, 1944.           
 
                                                            
 
 
  A cable has been despatched to Washington recommending   
either the provision of a separate ship in future if the volume of relief   
supplies is sufficient, or that relief supplies should be top-stowed where   
the volume is insufficient to warrent a separate ship, thus enabling two-  
                port discharge if necessary.