https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/a81bf3c73c437b31d258cd5f085696ad.pdf dd937b37ced19fe78525623fb2c18ab2 PDF Text Text Document disclosed under the Access to n ormat1on ct Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur /'acces a /'information ., 1 .. 18. i'xt~ CTTAl'A Fit£ {o SECURITY C SECRET .FROM: THE CANADIAN AMBASSADOR, BONN, GERMANY TO: THE SECRETARY OF STATEFOREXTERNAL AFFAIRS, CANADA eference: s t----:1:ubject: .-.... ....... Your. Numbered. Let.ter.. S.-:73.3.. of .. Nave.rob.er. .2$.,..195.2. aud ..... . my Numbered Letter No.21 of this dateC Tbe .Situat.ion. in. Ber.lin. and .S.ecuri.ty .. Ar.rangements. in .... . Berlin With reference to your Letter No.D-797 of December 24, to which I have replied by letter abovementioned of this date, it occurs to me that perhPps I should write this separate despatch. That letter deals primarily with security problems but it involves political reporting problems as well and it is to the last-mentioned subject tQ which this despatch is directed - JAN 21 \953 Copies Referred To.............. . ................. • No. of Enclosures Post File No............. s .. 2. Let me review the situation in Berlin. We have what is termed a Military Mission there. I am the Head thereof. This mission, as you know, stems from the time when Your-power control operated in Berlin and when it was agreed that nations which had fought in Europe against Germany and who did not continue in occupation should be associ·1ted with the occupying powers by means of such Military Missions. Four-power control has, of course, long since gone out the window but its form and a skeleton four-power organization has been maintained and these Missions have continued. Their original purpose of providing liaison between countries such as Canada with the four-power control body has of course long since ceased to exist. The actual present purpose of the Missions, o.ur Mission at least, is to keep in contact with military developments in the Russi9.n Zorte of Germany and with the French, the British and the American military organizations in Berlin. All this is purely on the military side. On the non-military side this Mission serves a multitude of purposes It is to some extent a sort of small branch office of this Mission. It takes care of representatives of Canadian Missions who pass from the Iron Curtain countries through Berlin It looks after prominent Canadians who are frequently in B0rlin. It keeps in contact with the Civic Government of Berlin and the civilian activities of the three-power Governmental organisations. It does specific jobs sent by us to it It has considerable to do by way of assistance to our Immigration organization in Germany. It aids and assists our Department of Trade and Commerce officials. These are its main activities but there are a lot of miscellaneous ones such as Film Festivals, Berlin Fair activities and other thin,g-s which also devolve upon the office. In fact, the principal purpose of the Mission is to bolster the prestige of the Berlin Government, to do its share in maintaining, if only by its presence, the morale of the population, and to wave the Canadian flag at this forward station ef the free world Properly staffed, it should be able to keep me and the Department •• 2 �Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de lo Loi sur /'occes a /'information t v • ·u V J 0 .., (' L j • u J ) 0 u J J ... �Document disclosed under the Access to lnformo1iorr Act 1/ Document divulgue en vertu de lo Loi sur /'occes a /'information -2- posted on political developments in Berlin and, through the window into the East Zone, on some of the developments there also. 3s All military matters are looked after by Colonel Larocque, who is a Permanent officer in the Canadian Army and who is strictly the military Member of the Mission. He lives in Berlin but confines himself exclusively to hi~ functions except for the fortnightly diary of "background facts" which he prepares under the title "Situation in Berlin" and which we send to you on receipt. All other matters are looked after by Captain O'Hagan, under close direction and supervision by us, to whom I have referred in the other letter of this date. 4. There is therefore a clear-cut division of activity and responsibility as between Larocque and O'Hagan and there.is no conflict and matters run along most happily and satisfactorily. 5. As between themselves there is no conflict as neither is supposed to be over the other and each operates harmoniously within his own water-tight compartment$ 6. It appears that when it comes to security matters this may present from time to time a problem such as is covered in the other despatches above referred to. I suppose that, ~nless an External Affairs officer were sent, the only proper way to cure this would be to put Larocque in charge, but I am very much afraid that to disturb the present happy situation will only bring difficulties upon our heads. 7. It is plainly evident to me that the problem of Berlin is going to remain of continuing importance to Canada and in fact all NATOco'untries. Up to the present there :b..a s been practically no political reporting from Berlin and in fact there is no one there competent to do such. Colonel Larocque is not trained iri that field and certainly O'Hagan who is primarily an administrative officer cannot do it. We get up there as often as possible and my objective is to spend a few days there each month, but increased activities here make this increasingly difficult. I get up there now about every two months. Other members of the staff do go up from time to time but all our visits are fleeting and it is virtually impossible to keep continuity in political reporting, which is the condition of its usefulness, if we have to depend upon such infrequent visits. If a political officer, even a junior one, could be made available for Berlin, then he could be in complete charge of the Mission; your security problems would be solved, as would also be those of political reporting from that worthwhile centre. l T.C.Davis Ambassador. 000679 -. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CDBC00342 Title A name given to the resource "The Situation in Berlin and Security Arrangements in Berlin," Bonn to SSEA, despatch no. 22 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 10-Jan-53 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "BERLIN. Political Situation. Relations between West and East Berlin," RG25-A-3-c, Volume 8506, File number: 10937-40, File part: 2.2, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource LAC ATIP A-2024-01457 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Canadian Crown Subject The topic of the resource Berlin Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Canada Declassified Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English