2,217
1,859
3.60
3.20
China
31,080
31, 200
40,101
Overseas
432
2,048
3,519
33,729
35,107
43,620
CATTLE (nos)
Local
22
26
46
4.60
3.80
China
2,360
2,086
3,015
Overseas
419
2,169
1,654
2,601
4,485
4,715
VEGETABLES (puls)
Local
41,484
37,667
38,171
.450.
.450.
China
57,581
51,324
53,500
Overseas
5,100
4,900
107,165
93,891
91,671
FISH (Piculs)
Local
25,377
24,147
21,293
2.00
1.60
China
972
157
737
26,349
24, 304
22,030
RICE (tons)
Stock
104,000
98,106
1.00
.80c.
China Imports 2,600
2,260
Other Imports 1,500
9.560
Off take
4,000
5,700
Stock end
week
104,000
104,000
70,000
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STAFF POSITION OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT AD WTILITY COMPANIES
16th OCTOBER, 1967.
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Strength prior to
ilo. dismissed after
disturbances
strike
Number Reinstated
Now Employees
Present Strength
Percentage of pre- disturbances total
Star Ferry
590
590
389
69
456
77
Hong Kong & Yaunti Ferry
1,885
115
10
77
1,829
974
Hong Kong Tramways
1,713
679
2
562
1,300
76
China Motor Bus Co.
2,360
1,273
80
4.10
1,511
64%
Kowloon Motor Bus
Hong Kong Electric Co.
Co.
7,194
4,907
739
943
3,877
54:
978
148
12
50
858
86,>
Chino Light and Power
2,745
709
52
309
2,487
91,3
Hong Kong & China Gos
548
334
170
391
71,5
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TRUISFORT POSITION
WEEK ENDING 11th OCTOBER, 1967
Buses
Passengers daily
Buses
18th Oct.
averago
11th Oct.
10/16th Oct.
Passengers daily avorage 3/9th
Oct.
Passengers pre- disturbance daily
average
Percentage of
pre disturbance
total
Kowloon Motor Bus Co.
379
1,118,319
307
1,167,1
1,858,369
60%
China Motor Bus Co.
251
384,361
24-2
405,615
569,488
67.5%
Hong Kong Tramways
157
371,618
148
417,561
479,544
77.5%
Teck ending 16th Oct.
Tonnage
Wock ending 9th Oct.
Tommage
1966
K.C.R. Wagons
550
8,179
366
1,501
774
71
River Boats
165
17,913
164
19,139
245
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CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
DESPATCH
-S-AVIN GÆXX
From the Governor, Hong Kong
Commonwealth Affairs.
To the Secretary of State for exa
uted to:-
Reputed to :-
Date 26 October, 1967.
My Reference... (39) in CR 51/3371467r Reference
No.
No.
No.
Communist Bomb Campaign
.....
583
386
I enclose for your information six copies
of a paper on the background to the Communist bomb campaign in Hong Kong
up to 25 September, 1967. A further paper covering the period from 26th
Septem- ber onwards is being prepared and will be forwarded in due
course.
A note on this subject has also been prepared by the Commander British
Forces. It contains details of military assistance provided. Three
copies of this paper were given to Mr. C. Godden, Private Secretary to
The Minister of State, on 20th October before his departure from Hong
Kong.
RECEIVED N
I
+
เ
I WA
PARO
涟
30007,967
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Над Кад
THE COMMUNIST BOMB CAMPAIGN to 25th SEPTEMBER, 1967.
GENERAL.
1.
583/€
This paper covers the main aspects of the bomb campaign as conducted by
the Communists during the present disturbances up to the 25th September.
It also deals with Government's response to the campaign and its effect
on the life of the community and public morale.
2.
To set the background, some general statistics may be useful. Although
there were two bomba reported in June the campaign may be said to have
started in carnest on 10th July. The total number of genuine bombs
reported from: that date to 25th September was 588. Of these, 179
exploded on contact before the arrival of a demolition team, and the
remaining 407 were detonated or otherwise dealt with by these teams,
2453 reports were found on investigation to be false alarms or hoaxes. A
further 59 bombs have been found in raids on left-wing premises.
Casualties caused by the bombs up to 25th Sept- ember were six dead and
168 injured, apart from those treated for shock.
THE COMMUNIST CAMPAIGN AIMS AND METHODS,
Aims.
3.
Although attacks have been made on the security forces, public utilities
and Government installations, these have not for the most part been very
dangerous or pressed home with great resolution. In fact some of the
more dangerous bombs have been planted well away from any strategic
target. The general pattern is so haphazard and the range of targets so
wide that it must be presumed that the Communist aim has been to
frighten the population generally and sap their will to resist, thus
undermining Government's position, rather than to cause injury or to
disrupt the economic life of the Colony, Clearly the very widespread use
of hoax bombs was also designed to this effect as well as to extend the
security forces. A complementary aim of the campaign appeared to be to
shake business (and tourist) confidence in the Colony; witness the bombs
planted at various branches of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, This
Chartered Bank and Bank of America as well as the Hilton Hotel. may be
linked with the letters which have been sent to tourists in Hong Kong or
businessmen abroad warning them of the dangers of life in the Colony.
Targets.
4.
In general, bombs have been planted in crowded commercial
While bombs have been districts rather than in residential areas. found
near strategic targets such as public transport (trams, buses and
taxis), police and military establishments and Government and public
utility installations (resettlement estate offices, telephone kiosks and
electricity substations) as stated above, it appears that most of these
have been planted with the intention of frightening essential workers or
the general population rather than to damage
Examples of bombs planted haphazardly any particular
installation.
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2.
-
are (a) the booby-trapped straw effigy hanging from a traffic signal at
Whitty Street Tram Terminus which exploded on 26th July injuring 10
people including several children and (b) the parcel left in Ching Wah
Street, North Point which killed two small children (out of a number who
had been playing in the area) on 20th August.
5.
When the radio commentator, LAM Bun, and his cousin were doused with
petrol in their car and burnt alive on 24th August there were fears that
a trend towards attacks on individuals would develop. However, apart
from the postal bomb (in fact with a very weak charge) delivered to the
Hon. Y, K. Kan as a riposte to his out-spoken rejection of terrorism,
there have been no further individual assassination attempts with
explosives. There has so far been no bomb campaigns against Europeans as
such.
6.
However, in the past few weeks there have been examples of more
deliberate planned attempts to attack the security forces with bombs,
and this trend may possibly develop further. That the bomb- planters
wished to hit at the bomb disposal teams has been apparent from the
booby traps which have been fitted to them, but a variation in tactics
has appeared since mid-August showing the deliberate intention of
hitting at Police parties. For instance
7.
(a)
(b)
(c)
on 13th August in the Johnston Road area of Wanchai a Police Light
Striking Force was attacked with bombs by an unruly crowd. The crowd was
dispersed and a box of cast-metal grenades was then found on the tram
tracks, When a bomb disposal team arrived to deal with the grenades yet
another bomb was thrown at them,
On 12th September, a banner was strung across Queen's Road Central near
its junction with Wellington Street and Jervois Street, When a police
party approached it, a bomb in the form of a tin containing nails and
metal fragments was detonated electrically from a nearby alley. Two
policemen and an army ballistics officer were slightly injured.
On the evening of 19th September, two bombs were thrown at a police
light striking force in Nathan Road, Mongkok injuring five policemen and
24 civilians.
Other examples have since occurred of bomb
disposal teams coming under attack by bombs thrown from buildings.
On 23rd September a real bomb was discovered outside the Commodore's
House in Bowen Road. On the morning of 24th, the day of the Governor's
return from leave, two bombs were placed near the east gate of
Government House. On the same day a number of hoaxes were also found
bearing insulting references to the Governor.
8.
Control and Organisation.
Information available to date indicates that bombs are being
manufactured and planted by small groups and that these groups are
/working
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There
working individually rather than under the close control of any central
organisation. This impression is strengthened by (a) the wide variety of
bombs encountered, (b) the fact that a number of small factories (e.g.
in squatter huts or even cubicles) have been discovered, and (c) the
often haphazard way in which bombs have been planted. is also no
evidence to date of any sophisticated devices being imported
Although there is doubtless some coordination it is not yet
clear how far it goes.
Cells for bomb operations appear to have been
formed primarily within a number of Communist controlled unions
prominent among them being the Government Armed Forces and Hospital
Chinese Workers' Union, the Motor Transport Workers Union and the
Spinning, Weaving and Dyeing Workers' Union; students from the Communist
Hon Wah and Heung To Middle Schools have also been implicated,
9.
cases;
(a)
(b)
10.
Indications of how the cells work can be seen in two recent
On 30th August a man was caught planting a bomb in Sports Road. His
interrogation led to the arrest of two more men, and a fourth man in
North Point the next morning. A cashe of five bombs, three sticks of
gelignite, 45 detonators and various lengths of fuse was then found
under a pile of sand nearby. The same day a fifth man who had recruited
at least two members of the group was arrested at Bisney Villas,
It is also Western
District, where he worked as a watchman. known that three further
persons were involved with the group. This group was financed and
apparently controlled by a watch- man of the Bank of Communications at
North Point who stayed in the background and left the leadership to a
quarry worker who made the bombs and gave them to two other members for
planting.
On 2nd September two men were arrested in a flat at Tai Wo Hau
Resettlement Estate in possession of four gelignite bombs. Under
interrogation they admitted responsibility for at least
After further Police two previous
bomb attacks in Tsuen Wan, enquiries, a third member of the group, who
actually made the bombs, and was responsible for the explosion on the
hillside above Tai Wo Hau on 1st September, when a police constable was
injured, as well as for bombing a telephone booth on 4th August, was
arrested on 20th September.
It appears that the people recruited for the bomb groups are for the
most part Communist sympathisers and not just criminals glad of a chance
to earn some more money on the gide.
Types of Bombs Used.
To begin with the explosive devices used were crude and inefficient
but they have grown increasingly sophisticated and dangerous during the
campaign. Initially the majority of the bombs were merely tins filled
with firecracker gunpowder; later, nuts or bits of metal were added as
shrapnel. Recently, more solid types of casing have
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4
been used causing a more powerful explosion and more sophisticated
detonating devices have been found.
There have been very few bombs containing
high explosive,
Although a considerable quantity of high explosive and detonators was
stolen from two explosive magazines on 15th and 19th August, there has
so far been no trace of these being used in bomb making. Indeed, there
is no conclusive evidence to connect the explosives theft with the
terrorists.
11.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
12.
The wide variety of devices encountered includes :-
detonation by remote control (one case only at Tai Po on 12th July);
anti-personnel or vehicle mines electrically detonated (e. g. Aberdeen,
17th August, Queen's Road 12 September):
anti-handling devices including friction switches, electrical circuits
and light-sensitive switches; other bombs in flag poles which explode on
being pulled out of the ground;
home-made grenades including a number with cast metal casings and
containing explosive (these are thought to be similar to those used in
guerilla warfare in China prior to 1949);
explosive in lengths of CI water piping which cause a stronger blast and
indicate a closer application of the theory of explosives;
time bombs, including at least one triggered mechanically by a stolen
parking meter clock and others which explode when a battery becomes
exhausted;
"shotgun" bombs consisting of lengths of waterpipe or bamboo packed with
nails with a powder charge; these are placed pointing at hoax bombs and
detonated electrically or manually;
explosive charges in packets sent through the post which are meant to
explode on being opened,
Hoax Bombs.
Although the numbers of genuine bombs planted are small compared with
the hoaxes, the latter have proved a great nuisance to the police and
bomb disposal teams who have been forced to examine every object found,
and to the public which is necessarily made to observe the same safety
precautions as for a genuine bomb. There is no particular pattern to be
observed in the places where hoaxes are planted, and they are obviously
designed simply to heighten tension and to overstretch the security
forces,
13.
The planting of bombs has shown no particular geographic pattern. As
regards time, the bulk of the bombs are found in the evenings, outside
working and school hours. Initially it appeared that the weekends were
the most popular time for planting the maximum
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number of bombs but this did not persist.
The highest number of casualties were caused on the evening of Sunday,
3rd September when a Fire Services Officer was killed and 12 other
persons, including a Police Inspector, were injured in one incident on
Hong Kong Island; three were injured in a further incident nearby, and a
further ten in Kowloon.
14.
Up to 25th September, five persons had been killed by bombs and 168
injured. The fatal casualties include
Sgt. Workman R. A.
O. C., killed whilst attempting to dismantle a booby trapped flag on
Lion Rock Hill on 28th August; an Assistant Station Officer of the Fire
Services killed on 3rd September; two small children and one Chinese
civilian. Amongst the injured are a number of police officers and six
members of bomb disposal teams. One suspected bomb-planter was shot
dead, one was killed (Jockey Club cook, 20th September); and seven
injured when bombs they were carrying exploded.
GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO THE BOMB CAMPAIGN,
15.
The aim of the security forces has been to deal with these bombs as
they occur and to minimize their effect on the life of the community.
16.
As a result of the raids on explosives stores on 15th and 19th August
(para 10 above), Government on 19th-22nd August withdrew all stocks of
explosives totalling some 20 tons to the government depot at Green
Island. It is being reissued in small quantities under strict security
guard. On 8th September following the promulgation of the Emergency
(Firework) Regulations, a similar operation was mounted to collect all
stocks of fireworks in private hands. About 150 tons of fireworks were
collected or handed in during this operation. These have been dumped in
the sea. In a series of searches and raids police have since found
quantities of firework material and 284 sticks of explosives. None of
the latter came from the raided explosive stores however,
Bomb Disposal.
17.
Bomb disposal teams were quickly set up. Initially the Police
Ballistics Officer investigated all suspected bombs, but as the number
increased Army bomb disposal teams were brought into action starting on
28th July. Five such teams including naval personnel are now working in
twelve hour shifts on either side of the harbour. On receipt of a report
of a suspected bomb, a police party is first despatched to the scene to
cordon off the area and the bomb disposal team is then sent out. The
maximum protection is given to these teams while they carry out this
work,
18.
Reports on bombs are compiled by the district Pol/Mils and collected
by a Bomb Disposal Control at Colony Pol/Mil who produce a weekly
report. This information is also passed to a special CID/SB team who are
responsible for tracking down criminals.
19.
A considerable amount of information, much of it anonymous, has been
received by the Police about bomb factories and bomb workers. However,
the bulk of this information has been too vague and inaccurate to be of
any value; in some cases it has been clearly malicious.
The
/rewards....
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D.
- 6-
Most
rewards offered for information have not had much effect in producing
useful information, though this aspect is still being followed up.
police action so far against bombers has been as a result of information
obtained from arrested suspects, though a number of bombs and bomb
materials have been found in raids on Communist premises.
20. bombs:-
(a)
(b)
(c)
21.
Legal Measures.
A number of new regulations have been introduced to deal with
on 22nd July, the definition of "explosive substance" in the Emergency
(Principal) Pegulation was amended to include materials for making any
explosive substance or apparatus for causing explosions.
On 12th August these regulations were further amended to permit the
imposition of heavier sentences by the District Courts for offences
under these regulations, with explosives particularly in mind.
On 5th September a further two emergency regulations were passed making
it an offence to be in possession of simulated or hoax bombs.
Prosecutions.
Up to 25th September, 40 persons had been prosecuted for
offences involving explosives or explosive devices. Most of these
prosecutions were taken under the emergency regulations making it an
offence to be unlawfully in possession of offensive weapons and
explosive substances or to consort with such persons. Some prisoners
have been charged under the Explosive Substances Ordinance Cap. 206 or
the Arms and Ammunition Ordinance Cap. 238. Sentences of eight years
have been given by the District Courts for the more serious offences.
EFFECTS OF THE CAMPAIGN.
22.
The bomb campaign has had remarkably little effect in Hong Kong thanks
to the calmness and staying-power of the people and the efforts of the