RS This telegram must be London closely paraphrased be- fore being communicated May 6, 1941 to anyone. (sc) Rec'd 4:39 p.m. Secretary of State, Washington. TRIPLE PRIORITY 1787, May 6, 9 p.m. PERSONAL AND FOR PRESIDENT My number 1753, May 3, midnight. In reference to the Prime Minister's message which came to the chancery about 1 o'clock Sunday morning, I feel you should know that I talked with the Prime Minister on the telephone early Saturday afternoon, as I planned to be away that night. He had just returned from Plymouth which was badly battered. He seemed both sad and dis- couraged. We talked about your message (Department's number 1471, May 1, 9 p.m.) and I had the impression that he was troubled about it. I told him it was a supporting message. He rather felt it was a message of delay. I off ered to go down to see him but he told me he would not answer you until after we had lunched together on Monday, when we could talk over his reply. He asksd me not to report in the meantime on our telephone conversation, fur- their explaining that he wanted to consult with some of his people. Our rule at the Embassy is to expedite the des(*) Prime |