TUESDAY, JULY 3, 1979
DEATH OF DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION SERVICES
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MR. JOHN DESMOND SLIMMING, DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION SERVICES, DIED THIS (TUESDAY) MORNING. HE WAS 52.
MR. SLIMMING WAS FOUND UNCONSCIOUS IN HIS FLAT AT THE ALBANY AND WAS TAKEN BY AMBULANCE TO QUEEN MARY HOSPITAL, HE WAS CERTIFIED DEAD ON ARRIVAL. THE POLICE ARE DEALING WITH THE CASE AS A DEATH DUE TO NATURAL CAUSES.
MR. SLIMMING IS SURVIVED BY HIS WIFE, LUCY AND DAUGHTER, FRANCESCA. DETAILS OF FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AS SOON AS THEY ARE FINALISED.
JOHN SLIMMING WAS BORN IN LONDON AND EDUCATED AT THE KING'S SCHOOL, CANTERBURY. HE JOINED THE ARMY IN 1944, WAS TRAINED AS A GLIDER PILOT AND SERVED WITH THE 6TH AIRBORNE DIVISION IN EGYPT AND PALESTINE BEFORE HE WAS DEMOBILISED IN 1948. HE SPENT THREE YEARS ACTING IN REPERTORY BEFORE ENTERING THE MALAYAN POLICE SERVICE IN 1951. HE WAS SERIOUSLY WOUNDED IN A GUNFIGHT WITH COMMUNIST GUERILLAS IN THE FOLLOWING YEAR WHICH NECESSITATED PROLONGED TREATMENT IN HOSPITAL. HE WAS APPOINTED ASSISTANT PROTECTOR OF ABORIGINES IN MALAYA IN 1954 AND RETURNED TO ENGLAND IN 1957 BEFORE TAKING UP AN APPOINTMENT IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE IN BURMA.
MR. SLIMMING FIRST JOINED THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT IN 1968 AS A SENIOR INFORMATION OFFICER. HE WAS PROMOTED ASSISTANT DIRECTOR (NEWS) IN 1974 AND DIRECTOR IN JUNE OF LAST YEAR, MR. SLIMMING WAS THE AUTHOR OF SEVERAL BOOKS ON THE FAR EAST, INCLUDING TEMIAR JUNGLE+, +GREEN PLUMS AND A BAMBOO HORSE+, *IN FEAR OF SILENCE+, AND THE PASS+.
APART FROM WRITING, PHOTOGRAPHY FORMED ONE OF HIS MAIN INTERESTS.
THE GOVERNOR, SIR MURRAY MAGLEROSE, THIS AFTERNOON SENT A MESSAGE OF CONDOLENCE TO THE FAMILY OF THE LATE JOHN SLIMMING.
+THE DEATH OF JOHN SLIMMING IS A SAD LOSS TO HONG KONG. HIS PROFESSIONALISM AND DEVOTION TO WORK WAS RESPECTED BY GOVERNMENT OFFICERS AND THE MEDIA ALIKE. IN PARTICULAR HIS UNTIRING EFFORTS OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS MADE A MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF OUR REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND OVERSEAS, AND HE WILL BE SORELY MISSED.+
/IN HIS