#3-044 Memorandum for the Secretary of War January 10, 1942 Washington, D.C. Secret

Philippines: With reference to the supply of anti-aircraft ammunition to MacArthur, Admiral King directed Admiral Hart to take extreme means to deliver ammunition. His last message this morning (Saturday) directs Hart to "expedite departure one ship with maximum cargo of 3- inch." Friday evening a message arrived from Hart stating that he was going through with the effort to deliver the ammunition. This reversed the action indicated by him in a previous message. Apparently the matter is now settled, with a firm order from here and accession by Admiral Hart. Australia: General Brett has given us detailed estimates of requirements. However, they are so based on long-distance plans that it has been necessary for us to send him a cable to give us specific requirements for the next three months in order that the available shipping can be utilized to the best advantage. Plane Movements: The head of the column of 4-engine bombers should be arriving in the Dutch East Indies today (Saturday). The advance flight of three B-17s from Hawaii to Australia left Canton Island for Fiji at six o'clock GCT [Greenwich Civil Time] January 9th. No further report. Troop Movements: Somervell has been gathering shipping to rush antiaircraft, engineers and bomber ground and maintenance crews to Australia. At the present time he has accommodations for 3500 men to sail shortly from the West Coast. Two 21-knot boats, I think the AQUITANIA and the QUEEN ELIZABETH, are being brought back from Australia to pick up antiaircraft regiments on the West Coast. These AA regiments are being moved from the East Coast by rail to San Francisco. Troops required for garrisons on Canton Island (1400) and Christmas Island (2000) are in movement to the West Coast. The garrison for Bora Bora has been agreed upon and the troops spotted. An antiaircraft battalion has been moved to Charleston, South Carolina for shipment to Bermuda. Dutch Government: Friday night last the President sent me a message from Hyde Park that in view of the critical attitude of the Dutch Government in London towards the establishment of unity of command—they resented the late notice to them—, he thought it advisable that we immediately make some allotment to them of materiel, however modest.1 He suggested sub-machine guns, tanks, and depth bombs. I took it up with General Moore immediately and found that on January 5th we had allotted them 2,500 sub-machine guns with 2,000,000 rounds of ammunition, and had agreed to further deliveries in February and March. Moore notified their agent last night that he was releasing 50 tanks to them, taking them from the Fourth Division at Pine Camp and sending them direct to the Port of Embarkation in New York. I passed on the depth bomb suggestion to the Navy, and they informed me that 500 depth bombs were now loading at Yorktown and 500 more would load shortly; also that 500 mines were loading at Yorktown and 500 more would load shortly. All of the foregoing I transmitted to the President early Saturday morning. Recruiting: Senator [Edwin C.] Johnson, of Colorado, is attacking us on the ground that we should not suppress volunteer recruiting. General Hershey apparently made a statement adverse to volunteer recruiting in a talk to the Press Club.2 G. C. M.

Document Copy Text Source: Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs, Records of the Office of the Chief of Staff (OCS), Chronological, Miscellaneous, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland. Document Format: Typed memorandum signed.

1. On January 3 the establishment of the ABDA Command was simultaneously announced by the four governments. The president's memorandum to Marshall of January 9 read: "In view of the rather tense situation caused by the announcement of Wavell's appointment, without prior approval by the Dutch Government in London, I am wondering if it would not relieve the tension a bit if you could—this afternoon—go over the list of the Dutch request for munitions of war and make some releases to them, even though they be very modest, such as some light tanks, depth charges and sub- machine guns. I think it is very important in our own relations with the Dutch that they fully understand that we are going to do everything we possibly can for them." (Foreign Relations, Conferences at Washington and Casablanca, p. 313.) General Sir Archibald Wavell arrived in Batavia, Netherlands Indies, on January 10 and assumed command of the ABDA Command on January 15.

2. On January 1 Secretary of War Stimson announced that the army had cancelled plans to stop accepting volunteers and to draw all of its forces from the Selective Service System; this change was necessitated, he said, by Congress's rejection of the War Department's request that draft eligibility be extended to men eighteen and nineteen years old. Brigadier General Lewis B. Hershey, director of the Selective Service System, at a luncheon given by the National Press Club, spoke regarding the probable future scope of the draft and its effect on the economic and social life of the nation. He was quoted as saying that he believed that "there should be no more recruiting" and that the army and navy should clear the names of those who wished to enlist through the local draft boards. (New York Times, January 2, 1942, p. 12; January 10, 1942, p. 8.)

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. 3, “The Right Man for the Job,” December 7, 1941–May 31, 1943 (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991), pp. 53–55.