#4-373
Memorandum for Admiral King
April 27, 1944 [Washington, D.C.]
Secret
There is attached a copy of the reply from General Eisenhower to my radio of 20 April 1944 referred to in my memorandum to you of the same date.1 I believe we should not press him to make major changes at this critical time. However, the United States Naval representation on the staff should be increased up to the limits of Eisenhower's requirements and the availability of suitable staff officers.2
Document Copy Text Source: George C. Marshall Papers, Pentagon Office Collection, Selected Materials, George C. Marshall Research Library, Lexington, Virginia.
Document Format: Typed memorandum.
1. General Marshall had sent to Admiral King a copy of his April 20 message to Eisenhower asking for his comments on King's recommendation that naval representation at S.H.A.E.F. be increased. (Marshall Memorandum for Admiral King, April 20, 1944, NA/RG 165 [OCS, 322.01].) See note 3, Marshall Memorandum for Admiral King, April 10, 1944, Papers of George Catlett Marshall, #4-338 [4: 394].
Eisenhower replied on April 25 that while he was "emphatically in sympathy" with King's request, the situation in Europe—where British as well as American service representation had to be balanced at S.H.A.E.F.—was dissimilar to the U.S. situation in the Pacific. Moreover, at S.H.A.E.F, the planning and intelligence staffs were already combined "in every sense of the word with approximately equal British and American air and naval representation.” U.S. Navy representation could be added to Admiral Sir Bertram H. Ramsay's staff at Allied naval command headquarters, Eisenhower suggested, rather than to the Supreme Allied Commander's staff, which was already "best suited to the peculiar requirements of our conditions and of our theater." (Papers of DDE, 3: 1830–32.)
2. Rear Admiral Bernhard H. Bieri was assigned to S.H.A.E.F. as an assistant chief of staff to Admiral Ramsay. (Ibid., pp. 1832, 1855–56.)
Recommended Citation: The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, ed. Larry I. Bland and Sharon Ritenour Stevens (Lexington, Va.: The George C. Marshall Foundation, 1981– ). Electronic version based on The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, vol. 4, “Aggressive and Determined Leadership,” June 1, 1943–December 31, 1944 (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), p. 438.