COPY for DEF 75/51/02✓
TOP SECRET AND PERSONAL
D/OP/I
III
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
HONG KONG
7th April, 1959.
(282)
Dear Ian,
As you
I agree with your view, expressed in your letter FED 528/400/01 of 16th March, that the reduction in the size of the garrison need not lead to a revision of the Commander British Forces' directive about evacuation. We are all agreed here that the prospects of successfully executing DIGIT under pressure are very slight indeed. I cannot, however, see any alternative to this plan. say, a re-appraisal of the directive is unlikely to result in further reinforcement of the garrison. On the other hand, we can scarcely water down the directive. "To cover the evacuation of families and loyal civilians to the greatest extent practicable" is the least that I conceive to be possible. We could only make the directive to the C.B.F. less stringent if H.M.G. decided to withdraw the garrison before any question of evacuation arose. I trust very much that this would never
be contemplated.
2.
Your second point concerns the "tailoring" of the plans to the size of the long-term garrison. Again I agree with you that we had better stick to our present plans provided that we all realise that they are unlikely to be fully effective. In its present form the plan provides for evacuation by priorities, and I think we all recognise that, even with the original garrison, we would probably not have got very far down the priority list. With the reduced garrison the time factor will no doubt be shorter, but, as the plan already provides for priorities, the highest possible speed in embarkation, the quickest possible turn-round and the maximum loading of ships and aircraft, it is difficult to see what possibilities there are of reducing its scope to fit in with the shorter time factor inherent in a reduced garrison.
Yours ever
(signed) Robin Black
W.I.J. Wallace, Esq., C.M.G.,
Colonial Office
LONDON, Ś.W. 1.
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