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practice. Unfortunately, he appears to have taken that as sufficient authority for going ahead and in doing so he made a slip which I much regret, though happily no harm was done. I did not realise what was happening, being at sea, and thus only partially in touch with the situation; but as soon as I got to Shanghai and saw the full correspondence, I at once sent to you my telegram No. 1 of the 21st May in order to clear up the situation; and you may remember that in that telegram I made it clear that I had expected Brenan to act only after you had expressed your approval, and that I realised that the decision regarding retaliatory action was for you to take and not me.
However, all's well that ends well, and I only bother you with this in order to show that your point of view and mine as regards procedure have been all along the same. The misunderstanding in this particular case was no doubt partly due to my being out of touch. But it may have had its uses since it has since led to the establish- ment of an agreed procedure which ought to prevent similar slips in future.
Yours sincerely,
Enclosure 6 in No. 1.
MILES W. LAMPSON.
Circular Telegram to Consuls of June 7, 1927.
YOU will have received from the Commander-in-chief copy of a memorandum No. 1040-of the 18th May dealing with the question of taking retaliatory measures in reply to hostile action on the part of the Chinese. After consultation with Admiral Tyrwhitt, I have to lay down the following instructions for your guidance. They are to be read in conjunction with the Commander-in-chief's memorandum.
In the event of any incident occurring which may require retaliatory action, you should at once consult the senior naval officer on the spot, if one of His Majesty's ships is in port, and arrange for an agreed report and recommendations regarding suggested retaliatory action to be telegraphed simultaneously by the senior naval officer to the Commander-in-chief and by you to me. Regard should always be had to the nature of the hostile action in putting suggestions forward in order that any proposed punishment shall not be excessive.
If none of His Majesty's ships is in port you should report direct to the Commander-in-chief as well as to me, and in view of the fact that the decision whether to take action or not rests with him, you should take care that he is always kept fully informed.
Where immediate action is taken anywhere in your consular district by a naval officer, without reference to the Commander-in-chief, under the authority contained in paragraph 2 of section 5 of the Commander-in-chief's memorandum of the 18th May, you should at once report the circumstances to me. The best course will usually be to repeat to me any telegrams sent by the naval officer concerned to the Commander-in-chief. The latter is giving instructions to commanding officers to keep consular officers informed in such cases.
In no case should any demands be presented to any Chinese military or civil official until the Commander-in-chief has definitely sanctioned specific retaliatory
measures.
[F 6984/4118/10]
No. 2.
LAMPSON.
Sir M. Lampson to Sir Austen Chamberlain. (Received August 19.)
(No. 677.)
HIS Majesty's Minister, Peking, presents his compliments to His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and transmits herewith copy of a letter from Rear-Admiral Tyrwhitt regarding co-operation between British naval and consular officers.
Peking, June 24, 1927.
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Enclosure in No. 2.
Rear-Admiral Tyrwhitt to Sir M. Lampson.
H.M.S. Hawkins at Shanghai,
June 7, 1927.
My dear Minister,
I AM very grateful for your letter of the 1st June regarding retaliatory measures am glad that we are in complete agreement.
2. I quite agree with your draft circular to consuls, and I am instructing commanding officers that in cases where they take action under clause 2 of paragraph 5 of my memorandum they are immediately to report the fact to the consular officer of the district concerned.
3. Also, where time permits, I will not fail to await your remarks or criticism of the measures which the local authorities have suggested, before action is taken.
4. I feel sure that these arrangements will put the procedure on a definite and regular basis.
5. So far as any situation can be foreseen in this country. I imagine that "incidents" may be classified as follows:-
(a.) Rifle or gun fire directed at a man-of-war or at a British vessel in the presence
of a man-of-war.
In this case the commanding officer may, at his own discretion, return the fire, provided he can locate his target. If he cannot locate his target, he reports the
matter to me.
Such incidents are reported to the Admiralty and to you in my daily situation report.
(b.) Cases when a British ship is fired upon and no man-of-war is present.
The consul and the senior naval officer to whom the British ship reports the incident telegraph to you and me respectively, stating their proposals. I await your remarks if there is time-I do not anticipate many situations arising when there would not be time.
(c) Cases of damage to, or destruction of, British property.
In the
I imagine that such cases would always be reported by the consul. unlikely event of there being a man-of-war present, but no consul, I would repeat the senior naval officer's telegram to you and the consular officer of the district concerned, and await your remarks.
I am only entitled to order retaliatory action when the property has suffered actual deliberate and wanton destruction.
(d) Danger to life.
When the lives of British nationals are in imminent peril, commanding officers may open fire, on their own authority, to save life.
Now that the British are concentrated at the ports, a consul would almost certainly be present, but he might not be available, e.g., as at Nanking. Anyhow, commanding officers are being directed to report their action to the consular officer concerned as well as to me.
In cases when, as at Nanking, the consul cannot report to you, or if it is doubtful whether he has done so, I will repeat the report to you.
I hope you had a pleasant passage to Tangku.
Yours sincerely,
REGINALD TYRWHITT.
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