LOCAL FORCES
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gallantry in battle and for later escapes from Japanese prison camps in Hong Kong, while 18 were mentioned in despatches.
After the war the Corps was reconstituted on 1st March 1949, as the Hong Kong Defence Force. Two years later, His late Majesty King George VI granted the title 'Royal' in recognition of the part played by the Force's forerunner, the Volunteer Defence Corps, in 1941. In March 1957, Her Majesty the Queen awarded the Battle Honour 'Hong Kong' to the Royal Hong Kong Defence Corps, and this Honour is now emblazoned on the Regimental Colour.
ESSENTIAL SERVICES
The Essential Services Corps proper consists of about sixty units, each responsible for maintaining an essential service such as the supply of electricity, water, communications, etc during an emergency. The authorized strength of the Corps is about 12,000 and actual strength is about 8,000. Each unit is principally staffed by persons of that service who have undertaken voluntarily to continue to serve under emergency conditions. When called out for service, members are subject to certain obligations but also become entitled to certain benefits and privileges such as pay, pension in cases of death or injury. In recent years the Commissioner has been a prominent member of the business community, with a government officer as Assistant Commissioner. This policy has now been changed, and a full-time government servant was appointed Commissioner in February.
The Auxiliary Medical Service is organized to provide first aid, reinforce government and private medical establishments, and provide an augmented ambulance service in an emergency. It is built around the Medical and Health Department, the St John Ambulance Brigade and other members of the medical and nursing professions, but many people with no previous training in nursing or first aid have also been enrolled and trained to act as auxiliary nurses in hospitals or as first aid workers in the field. The service has over 5,000 members.
The Civil Aid Services are responsible for all the civil defence functions not covered by the other emergency services. They consist of over 5,000 volunteers from all walks of life, who train to be of the most practical use in emergencies, of which the most frequent
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