- 2 - I believe the general concensus of opinion is to accept the leadership of the Goverrnment and sup- port it, believing that if an invasion of the Con- tinent is possible, it will be undertaken. The visit of General Arnold and General Somervell, with others, has again centred interest on this subject, and has increased active consideration of the problem, it is my opinion, however, that action and success will depend on what General Somervell described to me as a "sustained excitement" on the part of the Prime Minister and the higher British military officers, it will take great determination and singleness of purpose to organize an invasion force large enough to divert German ground forces from the Eastern Front, or to occupy the mainland in sufficient depth to be in a position to compel a major diversion of the German Air Force from the Eastern to the Western Front. I believe a great deal more could be done than is now being done, but only with your personal intervention and vigorous support. I liked your message of June first to the Prime Minister. I felt the lift of it, as I am sure he did. At the same time, I thought your estimate of the Russian situation made it clear that it was of concern to us and called for action on our part. I wired you this evening, asking for information as to the position you had taken in relation to the Russian demand for a Second Front, as I felt it would help me in working out your wishes with the British. I have seen something of General De Gaulle lately, partly because Eden felt that I could help keep him in line, and also because I respect him as a fighting man. The Prime Minister this last week has had a more friendly attitude toward him, because of the gallant behaviour of the Free French unit fighting in Lybia. He asked Tommy Thompson to put on all his gold braid and deliver a message of congratulations to De Gaulle, because of the effective part they have played in the desert battle. I spent three hours with De Gaulle and with Eden, convincing De Gaulle of the stupidity of his press conference which appeared last week, and explained to him that to be friendly one minute and critical the next was not good enough. He told me he understood. Eden said afterwards that he had never/ |