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Coll 5/87S ‘United States: Request for Military Air Transit Rights in India and Burma’ [300r] (599/609)
The record is made up of 1 file (303 folios). It was created in 2 Mar 1946-26 Dec 1947. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
United States Request for Bases.
Record of a Meeting between Mr. James Dunn and Mr. N.Butler
(Foreign Office) on the 27th February 1946.
After Mr. Dunn had today delivered to Mr. Butler the
message for the Secretary of State about the Azores (which
is being recorded separately) he said that he had a further
message to give on the subject of some bases in India and
Burma.
According to Mr. Dunn, the United States Joint Chiefs
of Staff had requested the State Department to take up the
question of military rights of air transit, including
maintenance for military use, in four airfields in India
.and Burma (Mr. Dunn did not have the names), in two of
which the” United States had undertaken large military
expenditure and were now faced with the fact that their
»rights in them were about to expire. Recent events had
shown that, if these fields were to be made available to
the Security Council "on call", the rights therein,
including the right of maintaining the fields in proper
condition for military use, must be shared by other
Governments with the Government of India. It was according
ly felt that such rights might now be insisted upon by
His Majesty's Government and the United States Government
during the settlement of the present disputes (a somev/hat
obscure phrase v/hich puzzled Mr. Dunn but which he took to
mean during the discussions about to be conducted in India
with regard to India's future status). Such rights, it was !
thought, should be made subordinate to any agreement which
might be concluded between the Government of India and the
Security Council. In the event that His Majesty's Govern
ment were not ready to approach the Government of India
for such rights either for the united Kingdom or the United
States, the United States Government would be ready to
approach the Government of India with a view to obtaining
them for themselves.
Such was the message which Mr. Dunn had been asked to
pass on.
Mr. Butler reminded Mr. Dunn that, when the United
States general request for bases had first been put forward
in November, a request had been made in respect of two
bases in India, one at Karachi and the other an air base
outside Calcutta, which the United States Government wished
to see us control, and which they had asked whether we
would be prepared to keep or get under our control. The
Secretary of*State had told Mr. Byrnes at the time that he
would find great difficulty in handling India in the way
suggested /
About this item
- Content
The file contains papers related to negotiations for air transit rights for United States military aircraft through India and Burma. The United States Army Air Force (USAAF) had enjoyed transit rights for its aircraft for the duration of the Second World War (1939-1945), and desired to continue these rights for the duration of the military occupations of Germany and Japan. It contains aide memoires, correspondence, memoranda, and notes related to parallel negotiations between the Unites States and the governments of India and the United Kingdom (UK).
Two copies of a report –JP (46) 142 (Final)– on these proposals prepared by the Joint Planning Staff, a subcommittee of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, can be found on folios 123-135 and 137-145. They include appended maps of the route: see folios 134 and 145. A few preliminary drafts of the report can also be found within the file.
Papers relating to customs, health, and passport examination of Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft in India can be found on folios 27-39.
Towards the front of the file are a small number of papers regarding the need for the UK to enter into negotiations with the newly independent dominions of India and Pakistan in order to ensure continued air transit rights for British military aircraft.
The main correspondents in the file are as follows: officials of the Burma Office (A F Morley, and Leonard Brian Walsh-Atkins) officials of the Cabinet Office (Sir Leslie Chasemore Hollis and Lieutenant-Colonel T Haddon), officials of the Foreign Office, officials of the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. , representatives of the External Affairs Department of the Government of India, and representatives of the United States in both London and New Delhi (including Waldermar John Gallman). The file also contains a number of telegrams sent to/from the Governor of Burma and the Viceroy of India.
The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (303 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 304; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2054
- Title
- Coll 5/87S ‘United States: Request for Military Air Transit Rights in India and Burma’
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:7v, 11r:14v, 18r:68v, 71r:79v, 81r:82v, 84r:116v, 121r:133v, 135r:144v, 146r:155v, 158r:171v, 177r:180v, 182r:205v, 210r:221v, 223r:224v, 228r:304v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence