CDIW00024. 29 July 1955. Letter to G.G. Crean from Patrick Dean

In this letter to G.G Crean, Patrick Dean updates his Canadian counterpart on the American response to their alerts proposals. Dean said he reminded Livingstone Merchant that he “urgently wanted to know the American attitude” on alerts. The Americans replied that they were working on the “technical side” before examining the political implications. Dean told Crean that a reply was expected in the first half of July but there were delays caused by the “difficulty of getting comments on the NATO aspect of the matter from [George] Perkins.” Before concluding, Dean asked the British ambassador in Washington to consult with his Canadian counterpart in Washington about a second approach if nothing happened by August 13.