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Memorandum for the President

May 18, 1943 [Washington, D.C.]

Secret

Subject: China Tonnage.

General McNarney has just completed a conference with Dr. Soong, in compliance with your directions.¹ Dr. Soong informed him that you had stated this morning that from July onwards Chennault was to have first priority of 4700 tons per month for the 14th Air Force, Stilwell to be given second priority for 2000 tons per month for ground force requirements. Assuming Dr. Soong had not misinformed General McNarney, he proposes the following for your approval, with which he states Dr. Soong concurs:

May and June 1943

500 tons per month for Ground Force requirements

All remaining available tonnage for Air Force requirements.

July-August-September-October 1943

As first priority, 4700 tons per month for Air Force requirements

As second priority, 2250 tons per month for Ground Force requirements with the proviso that Ground Force requirements will be shipped concurrently with Air Force requirements as long as a daily average tonnage of 157 tons for the Air Forces is maintained.

Will you please indicate whether or not this arrangement is acceptable to you.

Document Copy Text Source: George C. Marshall Papers, Pentagon Office Collection, Selected Materials, George C. Marshall Research Library, Lexington, Virginia.

Document Format: Typed memorandum.

1. Soong had met with President Roosevelt on May 18. “I asked the President for all the tonnage for the remainder of May and June 1943 on both Air Transport Command and CNAC [China National Aviation Corporation] planes for air force supplies for the 14th Air Force,” Soong reported to the generalissimo. “The President replied that certain small exceptions might be needed for ground forces,” and he asked Soong to discuss the problem with Deputy Chief of Staff Joseph T. McNarney. (Foreign Relations, Conferences at Washington and Quebec, 1943, pp. 296-97.) For more information regarding Soong’s report to the generalissimo, see Papers of George Catlett Marshall, #3-661 [3: 696-97].

Recommended Citation: ThePapers of George Catlett Marshall, ed.Larry I. Bland and Sharon Ritenour Stevens(Lexington, Va.: The George C. Marshall Foundation, 1981- ). Electronic version based on The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, vol. 3, “The Right Man for the Job,” December 7, 1941-May 31, 1943 (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991), pp. 695-696.