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AIDE
MEMOIRE
101
In the letter P. V.K. 260 of October 20th, an appeal was made to the Prime Minister of His Britannic Majesty's Government asking for arms and ammunition to be sent to the guerrilla fighters in Yugoslavia, at the request of their commander, Colonel Mihailovitch.
The British Prime Minister informed the Yugoslav Prime Minister by letter on the 26th October: that the Commander-in-Chief Middle East had been requested by telegram to send as much help as possible as quickly as possible to Yugoslavia; This request was also made by the Chiefs of Staff of the Army, Navy and Airforce to General Headquarters, Middle East urging the necessity of sending immediate help to the utmost limits of their means of transportation.
The Chier of the Imperial General Staff confirmed this in his letter of October 30th to the Yugoslav Prime Minister, and immediately next day/October 31st/ informed him that, in a few nights time, arms, ammunition and medical requirements would be dropped from aeroplanes in Yugoslavia.
On the 31st October the Yugoslav Prime Minister sent personal letters to the British Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and the Chief of the Imperial General Staff in which he put forward the request for urgent help in arms and ammunition, received by wireless from Colonel Mihailovitch.
On November 24th, Colonel Mihailovitch informed the Yugoslav Prime Minister by wireless, that in the fighting he had used up almost all his ammunition and that he was carrying out the reorganisation of his troops for the fight against the Germans. For that reason he begged for arms, ammunition, money, as well as clothing and boots to be sent him most urgently.
From all this, it is evident, that Colonel Mihailovitch has not yet received the arms and ammunition nor the other necessities which should have been dropped by aeroplane in Yugoslavia.
The Royal Yugoslav Government hopes that this urgently needed help will be sent immediately, otherwise according to the latest reports, Colonel Mihailovitch with his troops, will be forced to capitulate for lack of arms and ammunition. There is no need to emphasize how great a disaster this would be for the Allied Cause, both from the military and political points of view. This, all the more, in that Colonel Mihailovitch has succeeded in putting an end to the fighting between the various groups in Yugoslavia, and in uniting thein for the further struggle against the Germans.
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