No. 288 :
M. Corbin, French Ambassador in London, to M. Georges Bonnet, Minister for Foreign Affairs. London, August 29, 1939.

(Received by telephone at 3 p.m.)

THE written reply of Chancellor Hitler was dispatched by an aeroplane which left Tempelhof towards noon. It is believed at the Foreign Office that it should therefore be received towards 4.30 p.m.

The conversation which the British Ambassador had yesterday with Herr Hitler gave no indication of the latter's intentions.

Sir Nevile Henderson definitely told Herr Hitler that it was for the Reich now to make its choice between British friendship and war, by the attitude which it would adopt towards Poland. Field-Marshal Goering was summoned in the morning by Herr Hitler, probably in order to discuss the situation.

The German reply to M. Daladier has created a pessimistic impression at the Foreign Office. Sir Alexander Cadogan told me this morning that he did not see how the Chancellor, after having announced his aims in categorical terms, could beat a retreat without discrediting himself.

Corbin.