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THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT
TO BE KEPT UNDER LOCK AND KEY.
It is requested that special care may be taken to ensure the secrecy of this document.
CRET.
.S. (40) 258
so W.P.(40)97).
MARCH, 1940:
WAR CABINET.
CHIEFS OF STAFF COMMITTEE.
257
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COPY NO.
30
258
WEEKLY RESUME OF THE NAVAL, MILITARY
AND AIR SITUATION.
Repost.
On the 19th February, 1940, the War Cabinet agreed
that, in future, the Chiefs of Staff Weekly Résumé of the
Naval Military and Air Situation should be prepared monthly,
and not weekly.
2.
3.
This decision was reached on the grounds that:
(a)
a saving in time of the Staffs would thereby
be obtained.
(b) a reduction in the number of reports issued
to Ministers was desirable.
Since the above decision was taken we have given
further consideration to this question and we have reached
the conclusion that a monthly resume will add to and not
reduce, the work of the Staffs, and it is not likely to prove
satisfactory to Ministers. The reasons are briefly as
follows.
4.
A weekly resume creates little additional work because
the whole organisation not only in the three Services, but
throughout other Government departments, for the production
of intelligence and operational summaries is already en a
weekly basis, and the material is therefore readily available
in a suitable form. A monthly review on the contrary would
require the consolidation of a large amount of material and
would entail considerable additional work in its production.
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