CO537-(33-34) — Page 896

A

PUBLIC RECORD.OFFICE

Reference :-

MILCC 557

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

PUBLIC

RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

A

8

Enclosure (B).

From the General Officer Commanding in China and Hong Kong to the Under- Secretary of State for War, War Office, London.

Sir,

Head-quarter Office, Hong Kong, January 13, 1896. No. 801 REFERRING to my letter of the 12th September, 1895,- C.R. 1895,

in answer to War Office letter of the 10th July, 1895, No. 40263/25, I have the honour to recommend that the movable armament of Hong Kong be increased for the following reasons:-

1. The garrison is very small when compared with the area of the ground that it has to defend, and therefore it seems well to make up for the absence of rifles by an increased number of

guns.

2. The ground is so broken and divided by hill ranges and spurs that there are few positions which give an ordinary or adequate range over the ground to the front and flanks; therefore guns must be multiplied in order to give fire over the ground over which an enemy can advance.

I therefore ask for a battery of six 2.5" R.M.L. guns; in our movable armament, with positions assigned to them in the Defence Scheme, are two batteries of 8" and 66 howitzers respectively, which are with great difficulty got into position, and once in position cannot be moved over the steep and broken ground, and which, moreover, being placed high up on the ridges cannot be depressed sufficiently. The proposed mountain battery can more casily be got over steep ground and admits of great depression, and their longer range would make them more efficient than our present battery of 7-pr. R.M.L. guns.

Although we have not enough R.A. to.man the whole of the fixed and movable armament at one time, we have plenty of men to work the number

guns that would be likely to bear on an enemy's attack,

of

At the least this mountain battery would take the place of the 6'6" howitzers, which are too cumbrous to use on the narrow paths and steep slopes, and do not admit of sufficient depression, or of the 9-pr. R.M.L. Saluting Battery, which, in the 1894 Scheme, are all allocated in the defence; it would not be expedient to deprive ourselves too early of a saluting battery.

I inclose a copy of this letter in a Report that I am making to the Defence Committee.

I have, &c.

(Signed) W. BLACK, Major-General.

P.S. Since writing this letter, I am impressed with the desirability of having long-range guns of small calibre in the Kowloon batteries for use against infantry, because it would be a waste of power to use 9.2′′ and 10′′ guns against skirmishers.

W. B., M.-G.

(Initialled)

SECTIO

ICETTERS ISLA

AT DATE...

Including--

Epper Bob

Lower

Pola!!

Victoria

Mount Dat

та Сиколо

GO PANINE

redun

Kowloon

Land From

FRINTED AT THE YORRIGN OFFICE BY T, HABRINGN.—-18/3/96

North

Victoria

3377