00077
77
tended, with Colonel Chalmers, a meeting
Officers of the Services who are
draft of the Paper about the future
ong Kong for the consideration of the
3.
As regards the proposal that there
cussions between the War Office and the
ce about the establishment of a
or as it was put in No. 74 a nucleus
I made the following points:-
risk of an attack on Hong Kong in
force by Chinese war lords or guerillas
regarded lightly. All competent
n the spot were agreed that it was a
1
and that the withdrawal of the British
d by increase it.
tish garrison in Hong Kong would be able, developed, to offer effective resistance
rrival of reinforcements, and its presence
lf be a deterrent against an attack
d.
In neither respect could a
onsisting of a mixed force of Europeans
be regarded as a satisfactory
r British troops.
Hands It had been strongly urged
and military authorities in Hong Kong
it Asia that a British garrison should be
long Kong until conditions in China were
The Colonial Office very strongly
.8 view. If it were accepted, the
withdrawing the British garrison
and replacing it with a gendarmerie
se as a practical issue at present and
10 within any period which can be
is quite impossible to guess how
/mattere
000 78
matters may develop in China, and it would be foolish
to assume that the risk of an attack on Hong Kong
i
is likely to disappear within any given period.
It may
12
GMI
Ref.:
CO 537/1261
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
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Please note that this copy is supplied subject to the National Archivas' (erms and conditions and that your use of it may be subject to copynght
N
It may cease to exist in 2 or 3 years.
continue for 10. düzədildiz.clz stida We remain of the on this basis opinion that no useful purpose would be served by
discussing with the War Office the arrangements for
establishing a gendarmerie, and nothing would be
gained at the present time by forming a nucleus
gendarmerie.
(4) In the revised draft at No. 74, however, the fin
Paper on Hong Kong auggested that it might be
necessary owing to the acute shortage of manpower in
the Army, to withdraw even the small British garrison
which it was proposed to leave in Hong Kong, in order
to meet an emergency elsewhere. If indeed military
reserves were so short that it might be necessary to
withdraw garrisons from their stations abroad to
deal with any new situations which could reasonably
to Dilop
be expected in the visible future, then it seemed to
me that the Service Authorities should undertake a
survey of the sources from which such garrisons could
Lath by Chandra, be provided and of the order of priority in which
they should be withdrawn. The question of taking
precautionary measures to provide against h with-
drawal could then be considered in its proper
perspective for each Colonial territory involved.
did not seem to me justifiable arbitrarily to pick
a
It
on Hong Kong as the source from which British troops Shemale ooted be withdrawn to meet emergencies elsewhere
without first surveying the whole field.
(5) In any case the formation of a gendarmerie
with a high proportion of British personnel at the
present time would be a matter of very great
/difficulty.
N
Ref.:
CO 537/1261
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
N
restrictions Further information is given in the enclosed Terms and Conditions of supply of National Archwes leaflet
Please note that this copy is supplied subject to the National Archives' terms and conditions and that your use of it may be subject to copyright