THE ARMED SERVICES
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total an ascent of Mount Everest), was set by the 10th Gurkha Rifles in 13 hours and 18 minutes.
Open days held by all the elements of the garrison continued to attract large attendances and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity.
Garrison teams and individuals also played a leading role in the territory's sporting programme. Gurkha military engineers provided the design expertise and manpower for the construction of various youth projects, and several hundred youngsters attended camps run by the garrison to experience a variety of activities, including physical training, assault courses, shooting, map-reading, first aid, hill-walking, canoeing and sailing.
Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers)
The Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers) was formed in May 1854, when the Crimean War led to a reduction in the British military presence in Hong Kong.
The regiment, then known as the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, was heavily involved in the battle for Hong Kong in December 1941, during which over 2 200 soldiers and officers were mobilised. The corps lost over 200 personnel, killed or missing, during the battle and was awarded 19 decorations and 18 mentions in despatches for gallantry and service during the war.
Today, it is a light reconnaissance regiment of part-time volunteers. Its role includes reconnaissance, anti-illegal immigration operations and assistance to other government departments in the event of natural disasters. It is administered and financed by the Hong Kong Government but, if called out, it is commanded by the Commander British Forces.
The regiment will be disbanded in September 1995. At that time, it will have existed in various forms for 141 years.
The regiment has an establishment of 946 volunteers and 54 permanent staff, including nine regular officers and soldiers on loan from the British Army, one of whom is the Commanding Officer. The volunteers come from all walks of life and are of various nationalities, although over 97 per cent are Chinese. The regiment's final cadre of recruits successfully completed their six-month basic training and passed out in June 1994.
The regiment consists of four sabre squadrons, a home guard squadron and a headquarters squadron which includes a women's troop, with a strength of 71, who provide support in various operational duties as searchers, interpreters and radio operators. The regiment also runs a junior leaders' corps of around 300 boys, aged from 14 to 17, which provides training in youth activities and leadership skills. When the regiment disbands in 1995, the junior leaders' corps will be reorganised into an independent organisation known as 'The Hong Kong Adventure Corps Limited'.
The training commitment for each volunteer is two evenings and one weekend each month. There are centrally-organised regimental training programmes such as military courses, regimental camps and exercises. Each year, selected volunteers are sent for overseas training in the United Kingdom. A team of volunteers also participated in the British Territorial Army Rifle Competition held at Bisley in July and was the first runner-up in the overall pistol team match.
Regimental camps are the highlight of the year's training and normally take place over eight days in May and November. The volunteers are deployed on the border for anti-illegal immigration operations. Working alongside the police, the volunteers captured 81 illegal