CO129-590-14 Newsletters from Sir Geoffrey Northcote- Governor of Hong Kong 21-4-1941 - 24-11-1941 — Page 23

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To the se bodies we are now adding Special

Constabulary, 3,000, and Street Guards,

3,000.

The Special Constabulary will be

capable of being drafted to such places as

call for them, or of being used for food

escorts, tunnel guards, etc. The Street

Guards, on the other hand, will 'stay put',

each individual functioning only in the one

or two streets near where he lives and where

he should know and be known by the local

inhabitants.

Among other duties of the

Street Guards is watching for fifth columnism

and other subversive practices.

Departmental Instructions for the 'Precautionary Period'

Just before Easter I sent an instruction to

the departments concerned with war activities,

requiring each of them to furnish me with a return

stating what action was necessary by it on the

commencement of the 'Precautionary Period'. You

will be glad to hear that replies were, with one

exception, very satisfactory and that immediate

attention is being given to the exception. The

answers are with the General at the moment and I

shall be conferring with him about them shortly.

There are, of course, minor alterations and

amendments to be made in many cases.

Dispersal Schemes.

I found two principal dispersal schemes

on my arrival, one for dispersal on the Island

itself in case of severe damage by bombing, the

other for evacuation from the Island. The idea