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ANNEX.
Copy of telegram No. 1456 dated 31st December, 1940 from Sir M. Palairet (Athens) to Foreign Office.
15
MOST IMMEDIATE.
Your telegram No. 1212 paragraph 4.
Owing to delays caused by rainy weather in preparing aerodrome in North-West Peloponnesus Salonika has become the most suitable point (?from which) to make daylight attacks on Northern Albanian ports. Attacks on these are of course of the first, importance in order to increase the interference with the supplies of the Italians in Albania. Air Officer Commanding yesterday secured the reluctant consent of the President of the Council to the establishment of a bomber squadron at Salonika.
2.
The President of the Council sent for me, however, this morning, to ask that the squadron should not be sent there until His Majesty's Government had considered whether they were prepared to face the risk of an immediate German attack as a result of the action which the Germans might interpret as a threat to the Roumanian oil wells. If they were, he would agree, but it would be very harmful both to British and Greek interests if our action led to German intervention on a large scale, or German attack through Bulgaria.
写。
I gave him the reply in paragraph 8 of your telegram under reference but he observed that that applied only to the preparatory measures, What was now suggested was the establishment of a base at Salonika, and he had received all kinds of unofficial intimations that it was this which would provoke German action against Greece. He admitted that it might well be that it would not suit Germany to attack until the spring, but there was a distinct risk, and until His Majesty's Government had considered that risk he could not authorise the establishment of the squadron at Salonika. I imagine that one squadron would not be a strong enough force to act as the deterrent suggested in paragraph 3 of your telegram.
Enclosure to Annex.
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