Li
TELEGRAPHIC Address
GOVGEN SINGAPORE "
Ref: 30/11/48
TOP SECRET
COMMISSIONER-GENERAL'S OFFICE, Coxxxxxxxxxxxx,
CATHAY BUILDING (9TH FLOOR),
Singapore,
28th May
GG 1
1948.
TO: The Hon'ble The Chief Secretary, Federation of Malaya.
The Hon'ble The Colonial Secretary, Singapore. The Hon'ble The Chief Secretary, North Borneo. The Hon'ble The Chief Secretary, Sarawak
The Hon'ble The Colonial Secretary, Hong Kong.
1
Sir,
2.
I am directed to inform you that the Defence Co-ordination Committee, Far East, is anxious that studies should be initiated, as expeditiously as possible of the various Despatches which have recently been published in regard to operations in the Far East during the recent war.
In relation to matters emerging from these Despatches which appear to affect directly or indirectly the Civil Governments of the British Dependencies in the Far East, my staff have endeavoured to extract the relevant excerpts from the various Despatches and to collate them under a number of general headings. I enclose two copies of the results of this work which I trust will be of assistance to your Government. If further copies are required, I shall be glad to supply them.
3
The Chairman of the Defence Co-ordination Committee, Far East, trusts that your Government will be able to institute an examination of the various problems which are raised by these excerpts and to forward in due course a summary of your views and observations thereon, together with any remarks you may wish to make on other aspects of the work of the Civil Governments in wartime, even though the particular points are not mentioned in the Despatches. In this connection, I am to suggest that the objective in view should be to study the lessons of the last Campaign in order to base future Defence Planning on generally accepted principles which, it is intended, should be evolved from the replies which are received from the various Governments to this letter. It is hoped, therefore, that the Governments concerned will not find it necessary to undertake detailed investigations for the purpose of rebutting certain statements and opinions expressed by the Commanders-in-Chief in their Despatches, but rather to approach the matter from the angle that, whether any of the alleged failures occurred or not, plans for the future should be framed in such a way that any shortcomings of the kind mentioned may be prevented or reduced to a minimum.
4.
It is appreciated that matters under some headings are already under consideration by Local Governments and that others will be best considered in relation to background papers which are being prepared by the Joint Planning Staff or, as in the case of Civil Defence, in the light of further direction it is expected will be received from London. On the following points, therefore, no observations need be made in your reply unless you particularly wish to do so:-
/Civil