No. 565 from the High Commissioner for Canada, London to the Secretary of State for External Affairs

March 20, 1953. An incoming message No. 565 from The High Commissioner for Canada in London, England (Norman Robertson) to the Secretary of State for External Affairs in Canada (Lester B. Pearson) British thinking about the Lincoln bomber incident. Robertson provided details about Brigadier Meadmore’s liaison mission report, specifically about the wreckage and the presence of ammunition on board the bomber. Robertson then wrote about the Russian General Chuikov’s proposal for a conference to discuss flying regulations in the aftermath of the attack, and British concerns about the Russians’ goals for holding such a conference.  Robertson’s conversations with other British officials about similar incidents and whether or not this incident portended a new, aggressive Soviet policy. In general, the assumptions in London were that this was not a “new and tougher policy on the part of the Russians.”