Mr. Campbell
Page 71
It all depends on what your object is in pressing this. Logically your position is unassailable. If an examination of the Commander's directive were to show, as we expect, that the tasks assigned in it are on the big side for the reduced garrison and if the result of that were likely to be an increase in the size of the garrison, fine and dandy. But that is hardly likely to be the result. If the result were to be a cutting down of the tasks assigned, e.g. by weakening even further the wording of point (c), viz.
"(c) in extreme emergency, to cover the evacuation of
families and loyal civilians to the greatest extent possible,"
then we should have achieved no good, only ill.
But perhaps you see some advantage for Hong Kong coming out of the exercise. Should we discuss?
1. Ween
3rd December, 1958.
My sole purpose was a tidying-up operation. I do not think it is at all likely that any beneficial results apart from this would accrue, and I certainly would not expect that there would be an increase in the garrison in the event of the Commander reporting that with his present forces he could not carry out his present directive. But Mr. Wallace is afraid that if we direct attention to the directive, the part of it which may well be amended is the reference to evacuation, and he would prefer to have this in so that in the event of there being any trouble in Hong Kong involving evacuation the Commander will have that task on his shoulders and will have to do the best he can to discharge it. If that task remains in but in a watered-down form, or if it is cut out of the directive, the possibility of evacuation taking place at all would be considerably reduced.
2.
In view of this political difficulty, which I quite understand, and which I should have appreciated before, I accept that we should not pursue this matter further, and I apologise for having put people to inconvenience.
3.
Mr. Fairclough to see.
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(A. Campbell)
4th December, 1958
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