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Amit ?
No, Leave it in
Commanders of all three Services.
I was able
to meet the Executive Council and the Local Defence
Committee. I visited Service units on the mainland
including the New Territories and was able to
inspect the frontier terrain. I saw and addressed
a parade of the Hong Kong Defence Force and had a useful discussion with the Commander. Finally I greatly valued the opportunity to visit the
Royal Naval Hospital where men of H.M. ships
injured in the course of the incidents on the
Yangtse were being cared for.
The organisation of the defence of Hong Kong
against possible aggression, gives rise to many
difficult problems not the least of which are those
fnot
created by the nature of the trading activities to
which Hong Kong owes its existence and by which the
Colony thrives. H.M. Government have been closely
concerned to ensure that the necessary defence
measures should not impinge more than absolutely
necessary on the normal life of the community. I
was able to discuss this problem in all its
aspects with the responsible authorities on the
spot. It is the Government's view that the
harmonising of civil and military requirements will
be assisted by the appointment of a single officer
directly responsible to the Commanders-in-Chief,
Far East, to command all the Army, Air and Local
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