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(THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HER BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT)
OPD (68) 32
21st May, 1968
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DEFENCE AND OVERSEA POLICY COMMITTEE
HONG KONG GARRISON
Memorandum by the Secretary of State for Defence
Our planned withdrawal from Singapore and Malaysia by the end of 1971 makes it necessary for us to review the future strength and structure of the Hong Kong Garrison. After our withdrawal, we shall no longer have forces in the Far East from which we will be able to provide rapid reinforcements and we must therefore ensure that the Hong Kong Garrison is adequate to meet its commitments without immediate reinforce- ment. This is not only a military necessity; it is also essential to maintain the morale of the civil population of Hong Kong. A decision on this point is required now in order to fit into the general pattern of decisions needed to settle the future size and structure of our forces.
2. My proposals and my reasons for them are set out in some detail at Annex. I suggest that the future Garrison should consist of the following elements:-
Costs
a.
Royal Navy 2 Frigates, 5 mine counter-measures vessels and an increase in support facilities which include the provision of one small oil tanker and a small increase in facilities ashore.
b. Army 7 units, comprising 6 infantry battalions one gunner regiment, one armoured car squadron, one engineer squadron. Whether the Army Units should be all British or mixed Gurkha and British, and whether the British Units should be accompanied by their families are questions which will be settled separately.
C. Royal Air Force
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6 Whirlwind helicopters and
RAF Kai Tak and Tai Mo Shan. I am still undecided about a proposal which has been put forward by the Governor for having a permanent fighter presence in Hong Kong. The arguments for this proposal are in my view more political than military. If it is decided that the Governor's request should be met I consider that the appropriate way of doing so would be to provide a self-contained unit of 4 Hunters and a Hunter Trainer when the squadron in Singapore is withdrawn in March, 1970. It would also be necessary to provide part of an RAF Regiment Squadron to protect the necessary ground installations.
3. Of my proposals for the future Hong Kong Garrison, only the 2 frigates, 23 major Army units and the staging facilities at Kai Tak and Tai Mo Shan seem to me to be related to our
external defence responsibilities. In my view, the other proposed elements of the Garrison, namely:-
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