2. General Foulkes informed Mr. Claxton this afternoon that the Commonwealth Division in Korea had been ordered to provide two Companies for Koje Island and that one Canadian company and one United Kingdom Company had been chosen.

3. Mr. Claxton asked me to request you to tell the United States that we did not like this proposal. He thought that we could base our position on the fact that we had acceded to the 1929 Prisoners of War Convention and the United States had not. Both countries have, however, ratified the Convention.

4. I discussed this matter with the Prime Minister and he instructed me to request you to get in touch immediately with Mr. Acheson in an effort to have the order to the Canadian Brigade countermanded. You should inform Mr. Acheson that in the Prime Minister's opinion it would be more difficult to have our people agree to any additional contribution that may be required of them in Korea if a Canadian Company were to be sent to help guard the Koje Island prison camp. It was, therefore, in his opinion, in the general interests of the United Nations that the Canadians should not be asked to do this. The Prime Minister was thinking, for example, of the possibility of a renewed offensive and a request for more Canadian forces. He added that he did not want the order to the Canadians countermanded if it would gravely affect the morale of United States forces in Korea or discredit the new Commander-in-Chief.

5. After speaking to you I informed General Foulkes. He said that so far as he knew, Mr. Claxton had not sent any message to London as you thought he might have done. General Foulkes said that there was nothing which he could do through military channels. He added that it would probably not take any more than twenty-four hours for a Canadian Company to be moved from the front line to Koje Island.

6. After speaking to you I telephoned the Prime Minister to tell him that Mr. Pearson had been in touch with you and had suggested that we wait until we hear what the United Kingdom is doing. I also told the Prime Minister that since speaking to him I had learned that a United Kingdom Company, as well as a Canadian company, had been ordered to Koje. The Prime Minister said that if there were at Koje a United Kingdom Company, as well as a Canadian Company, this would make some difference but it would not completely remove the embarrassment which might result. He feared that it might result in quite a reversal of feeling in Canada about our participation in the Korean war. There was a lot of anxiety in Canada about what has taken place at Koje Island, and regardless of what the Government did, the sending of a Canadian Company to Koje might have a considerable affect on opinion.