29 30 - 2 -

SECRET
EXECUTIVE BOARD
Friday 11th April, 1941

D.G.

D.D.G.

P.S.

Sir Maurice Peterson

Lord Davidson

Mr. Radcliffe

Mr. Waddell (Secretary)

1. The Minutes of the meeting of 10th April were taken as read and approved. The D.G. said he would speak to the Minister in regard to Item 3 (Inadequacy of Information) and ask him whether it would be possible for him to attend an occasional meeting of the Executive Board in order to ensure that the Senior Officers of the Ministry could be fully informed on questions of importance.

[A/634]

2. B.B.C. Propaganda Research Reports

Sir Maurice Peterson said that he thought the part of the Overseas Department dealing with enemy occupied territories were fully informed about broadcasts from enemy stations and about our own broadcasts. He felt that for the information of others in the Ministry, the most helpful papers would be the weekly directives on propaganda to Italy, France, Germany and the Balkans.

It was generally agreed that in order to make the best use of material already in existence, the Reference Section under Lord Davidson's control, should be developed so as to make it as far as possible the sort of Intelligence Centre he outlined. It was agreed further that the Private Secretaries to the Minister and D.G. should examine the list of reports and analyses at present submitted to them, and eliminate those which did not need to be brought to the notice of the Minister or D.G. The Private Secretaries should arrange with the Controllers that in regard to the other reports, only those items which seemed of special importance should be submitted. Sir Maurice Peterson promised to send the weekly directives about propaganda to Italy, France, Germany and the Balkans to the Minister and D.G.

[A/706]

P.T.O.

3. War Diary

It was agreed that, at the Friday meeting of the Board, Controllers should in future bring to notice any points which they felt were worth recording in the War Diary, but were not likely to have found a place in it through other channels.

[A/380]

4. Co-ordination of Government Advertising

D.D.G. reported that a discussion had taken place the previous day following upon a letter he had addressed to the Treasury. The Ministry of Food and the National Savings Committee had agreed to provide the Ministry with information about their advertising contracts in the press for the next six months; we would then estimate the amount of space free for display advertising and approach the newspapers with a six or twelve-month contract. The Ministry of Food would take roughly 1/3rd, the N.S.C. 1/3rd and the remainder would be shared by the other Departments interested. The question would have to be put to the newspapers whether they would make available to the Government a quarter or one-third of their total advertising space. A Committee to control the rationing of space between Departments had been suggested, with Lord Davidson as Chairman.

[6P/117]

5. News from China

D.G. reported and the meeting noted a conversation he had had with the Chinese Ambassador, who had said that the news reaching this country from China was inadequate - in his opinion for two main reasons, namely that the Times correspondent in China was not as good as he might be, and press rates were too high.

[FP/]