CO129-557-8 Compilation of a history of Hong Kong 3-2-1936 - 7-4-1936 — Page 14

Tel. No.-Whitehall 9400.

Any further communication on this subject he 1 be addressed to :—

The Under-Secretary of State,

The War Office,

London, S.W.1,

and the following number quoted.

NATIONAL

DISABLED

CHEME

MEN

EIVED

1/Buildings/1627 (R.Records) 17 MAR 1970

Sir,

C. O. REGY

THE WAR OFFICE,

LONDON, S.W.1.

March, 1936.

16/1

14

In reply to your letter of 19th February, No.53669/36, regarding a request by Mr. Handyside for permission to consult certain War Office records, I am commanded by the Army Council to state, for the information of Mr. Secretary Thomas, that the Council will be glad to arrange for special facilities to be accorded to Mr. Handyside for consulting the publications in the War Office Library and also the War Office records in the Public Record Office that are open to public inspection.

The Council are also willing to consider any specific requests from Mr. Handyside for particulars relevant to the history of Hong Kong that are available only from War Office records, though they are not prepared to grant unrestricted access to the records within the closed period, many of which deal with questions of current interest and of a controversial nature. Permission to inspect any documents within the closed period would be subject to an undertaking to fulfil the following conditions being given by Mr. Handyside :-

(a) To submit to the Army Council before publication

any copies or extracts obtained therefrom;

(b)

and

Not to communicate to any person, either verbally

or in writing, any information contained therein that has not been approved for publication.

The Council would be grateful if arrangements could be made for the typescript or the proof of the history to be submitted to them for examination in order that they may assure themselves that there is nothing

The Under-Secretary of State,

Colonial Office,

WHITEHALL, S.W.1.

objectionable/