28
required sometime or other to be added to the
aerodrome. When, therefore, in 1935, the Governor
was assured by the Senior Air officer in Hong Kong
that the land should now be added to the aerodrome
as essential to meet the requirements of the new
Royal Air Force squadrons which were being posted
to Hong Kong, he could only have supposed that the
cost of this essential work, which was immediately
undertaken, would be shared by the Air Ministry,
just as the original cost of constructing the
aerodrome itself had been shared as a joint
service and civil enterprise. The Colonial Office
would be quite ready to enter into a conference on
the general question of the terms on which land
could be acquired by the Royal Air Force in Hong
Kong, but this particular question of the commitment
in respect of the expense already defrayed from
Colonial Government funds in respect of the Kai Tak
extension was altogether a separate issue.
extension would be the joint property of the
Colonial and Home Governments, just as the aerodrome
itself was.
with
The
That
It was finally agreed that Mr. Bridges,
subject to approval of higher authority here, with
wolny be
the Colonial Office would be represented at a
meeting with the Treasury and Service Departments
on the 13th of January for the purpose of discussing
the general question of the terms on which land is
made available for the use of the Royal Air Force
in Hong Kong. It was further agreed that as a
quite separate matter, I, or some other Colonial
Office representative could, before or after this
meeting, informally discuss with Mr. Bridges and
the