COPY.
CONFIDENTIAL.
36
Enclosure No.2.
SUBJECT: Annual Report on the HONG KONG Volunteer
Defence Corps, 1935.
From: -
To:-
C.R.C.C. No.C/12198(G).
The General Officer Commanding.
The British Troops in CHINA.
The Under-Secretary of State,
The War Office, LONDON, S.W.1.
Hong Kong,
8th July, 1935.
Sir,
I have the honour to forward the Annual Report
on the HONG KONG Volunteer Defence Corps for the year
1934/35. During that period I have frequently watched
the various units on the range, at their practice seaward,
at field exercises and at their defence posts during the
Combined Operations exercise, and I can confidently report
that the Corps as a whole is now more appropriately
organized, and the units more efficient in the task of the
defence of the Colony, than at any time during my tenure
of the appointment of General Officer Commanding The
British Troops in CHINA.
2.
In the opening words of the report it is stated
that the numerical strength of the Corps has increased by
111 since the last Annual Report. Included in this figure.
are 41 Chinese recruits in the new Railway Operating
Detachment, 17 Indians and a nett increase of 52 Portuguese in the Corps Infantry. The nett European (British)
strength has increased by 1.
3.
I estimate that, in the Colony, there are some
300 young British men of an age suitable to join the
32