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The Minister of State saw Mr. Tyrer on Tuesday, 15 August. I was present.
Mr. Tyrer said that he was completely taken by surprise when the O.A.G. asked to see him and told him that he (Mr. Tyrer) had lost the confidence of the 0.A.G. and of a number of his fellow officers and invited Mr. Tyrer to submit an application to retire with immediate effect. Mr. Tyrer said that he had had no previous warning that he had not been carrying out his duties efficiently and satisfactorily. He felt that he had been fully implementing the policy of the Government in handling the situation in Hong Kong and in attempting to prevent action taken by the Police provoking the Chinese to escalate the disturbances. However, at that time Mr. Tyrer felt that he had no option but to hand in his resignation. He felt that he should, however, have been told of any defects in his leadership or of his handling of the situation so that he could have answered them.
Lord Shepherd explained to Mr. Tyrer that he had personally been through all the papers and that he had come to the conclusion that in the light of the reports on the situation in Hong Kong and of the official advice tendered to Commonwealth Office Ministers at
the time, had he been present he would have taken the same decision. Lord Shepherd stressed that the whole matter came down to a question of opinion. Hong Kong was going through an extremely tough and dangerous phase and there had been some doubt whether Mr. Tyrer was the right man for the job at this particular time. Lord Shepherd said that the present situation in Hong Kong was similar to that which the military commanders had had to face during the war when, for a number of reasons, it had been necessary to change commanders, not because they were incapable of performing their duties efficiently and satisfactorily but mainly because they did not happen to be in the right place at the right time. Lord Shepherd had every sympathy for Mr. Tyrer, but his own personal opinion was that Mr. Tyrer should accept the present position as an unfortunate act which had arisen because of the special conditions in Hong Kong. Lord Shepherd again stressed that the action taken was a matter of opinion and in the circumstances Ministers in the Uffice here felt that they had to support the man who was in overall charge in Hong Kong at the time.
Lord Shepherd made it clear that there could be no question of Mr. Tyrer returning to Hong Kong. On the other hand, if Mr. Tyrer wished to withdraw his resignation the alternative would be for the O.A.G. to recommend his compulsory retirement. In this case Mr. Tyrer could ask that the reasons for calling on him to retire should be given in detail to him in writing so that he could be given an opportunity to defend himself. It was pointed out to Mr. Tyrer, however, that under section 380 of chapter 89 of the Pensions Ordinance the Governor in Council (with the approval of the Secretary of State in cases where his approval is required) could order an officer to retire after attaining the age of 45 years and
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