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ANNEX A to DP 9/68(C
Preliminary Draft (Continued)
b. A mixed garrison, accompanied, comprising British and
Gurkha units as follows:
73 (Four Gurkha battalions; 34 British units)
6 (Three Gurkha battalions; 3 British units)
5% (Two Gurkha battalions; 33 British units)
Royal Navy and Royal Air Force compnents of the garrison
are as indicated in the paper. The Royal Air Force fighter
element if based in the colony should be taken as six Hunter
aircrafty.
CONCLUSIONS
Kereta control WORK, TE
46. We conclude that:
a.
At a time when we are withdrawing our forces from the
Persian Gulf, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei any reduction
in the size of our forces in Hong Kong would seriously
affect confidence in the colony by casting doubt upon
HM Governments' intentions towards the colony.
Despite the present lull in confrontation tactics
we can discern no change in Chinese long term intentions
of their desire to take over control of the colony. The
threat to the internal security of the colony, coupled with
the ability of the Chinese to aggravate the situation on
the border, has in no sense diminished and we see no
reason to change our previous assessment that the minimum
land force element of the garrison, based on the military
requirement, must remain at 63 major units.
c.
In the event of an emergency, the permanent garrison
of 63 major units may have to be reinforced from the
United Kingdom with up to four battalions. We recognise
that, providing sufficient warning of a deteriorating
situation is received, there is no requirement to maintain
the garrison permanently at 7 major units, since we have
the ability to deploy an immediate reinforcement battalion
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