IMMEDIATE.
SECRET.
53838/24/38
141
8 October, 1938.
Dear Eady,
I enclose a copy of a semi-official letter
from the Governor of Hong Kong about the policy to be
followed in respect of the Hong Kong-Canton Railway
in the event of a Japanese operation against Canton.
The apprehension of a port and railway strike
if supplies were permitted to be railed to the
Japanese is no doubt a very real one. But it seems to
us to be worth careful consideration before approving
a policy of closing the line completely for traffic
beyond the frontier even after actual hostilities had
passed into the distance.
At the initial stages the line would
presumably be fully occupied by our own defence needs
up to the frontier, but it might be as well not to
rule out the advisability of attempting to maintain
thereafter a limited passenger service which could
COLONEL H.G. EADY, M.C.
accommodate