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This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
Printed for the use of the Colonial Office. January 1902.
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SECRET.
No. 286 M.
108
W.0. Nos. 083/3838 and 57/Hong Kong/630.
HONG KONG.
Proposed Mountain Battery.
Memorandum by the Colonial Defence Committee.
THE War Office have referred to the Colonial Defence Committee the corre- spondence relating to a proposed mountain battery at Hong Kong, which is printed as an Appendix to this Memorandum.
2. The movable armament of Hong Kong includes six 2·95-inch Q.F. mountain guns, which were sent out in 1900 with sixty sets of pack saddlery.
The General Officer Commanding, Hong Kong, recommends that one of the companies of the Hong Kong-Singapore Battalion, Royal Artillery with these guns should be organized as a mountain battery, with an establishment of drivers, mules, &c., similar to that of mountain batteries in India.
3. The first question for consideration is whether it is desirable that part of the garrison and movable armament of the naval base of Hong Kong should be specially equipped and organized with a view to service with "a small expedition for the pro- tection of British subjects, or commercial interests, at one of the Treaty ports of China" (see Appendix, No. 1, paragraph 7).
The Governor of Hong Kong, dealing with a proposal by the China Association to keep a movable column at Hong Kong in addition to the allotted garrison, deprecated any such suggestion in a despatch dated 25th September, 1900, copies of which were sent by the Colonial Office to the War Office and Admiralty on the 8th November, 1900, on the ground that a much larger military force would be necessary in the event of serious crisis, and that for the normal troubles necessitating intervention on behalf of British interests the British naval forces in Chinese waters should suffice.
a
In this view the Colonial Defence Committee concur. They are, moreover, of opinion that to organize any portion of the garrison and movable armament of the naval base for expeditionary purposes would not only involve expenditure for which no adequate return is likely to be obtained, but would lead to misconceptions as to the functions of the approved garrison and armament. These have been calculated at the minimum strength considered sufficient for the protection of the station, and if at any future time His Majesty's Government should consider it desirable to maintain a force in the Colony for operations outside it, such force must be additional to, and distinct from, the approved garrison.
defin
4. There remains to be considered the question of the utilization of mountain guns at and near Hong Hong.
The G.O.C. states in his letter dated the 13th April, 1901 (Appendix, No. 5, para-
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B
44 53/Hhony / 6464/2/d? 20/2/03 DGM1 informed Goc. with ref. to a proposal to keep
53/H.Kong/6464(2)? up reserves of supplier for Exped? force that it is not permissible to regarda portion of the garrison as generally available for expedit?" purposes in China.
At
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