Enclosure No.3.
18
-3-
information. This memorandum was considered, after circulation, at a joint meeting of the Executive and Legislative Councils on 22nd August, 1940, when it was decided that a sum of $1,000,000 should be made available immediately for the purpose of experimental work on tunnels and other forms of air raid shelters in suitable areas and
that, although most of the work should be carried out on the Island of Hong Kong, some work should be done in Kowloon. A Special Warrant (No.317 of 1940-41) for this sum of $1,000,000 has now been covered by a supplementary vote of $1,000,000 under Head 32, War Expenditure, Sub-head 2, Extraordinary Local Defence, Item 3, Civil, which received
the formal consent of the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council in Finance Message No.9 of 1940-41, Item No.184.
5. In the middle of September the Director of Air Raid Precautions paid a short visit to Chungking to study the measures adopted for the protection of the populace in that much bombed city. On his return I instructed him to draw up a scheme for the protection of the whole population in the most vulnerable areas of both the Island and Kowloon.
copy of the Director of ir Raid Precautions' Memorandum dated 15th October, 1940, is enclosed. The main methods of protection which it is proposed to adopt are three:-
A
(a) Dispersal Areas,i.e. unbuilt-up areas, as remote as possible from military objectives, to which the populace will be directed to proceed and where they will be provided with water supplies, latrines,
food stores and such protection from the elements as
is possible. In these dispersal areas protection from bomb blast and splinters will take the form of
trenches.
(b)
Concrete Pens,i.e. above-ground structures