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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

Page 301

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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