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recent attacks on public transport. Complete surprise was achieved, there being a union meeting in progress when the raid went in. Delays were again caused by steel grilles, A total of two hundred and thirty three arrests were made. There were no casualties.
4. The subsequent raid on the F.T.U. workers club was equally successful in achieving surprise. Some two hundred people were arrested in the first sweep through the building. A large conference room was discovered ready for a meeting. There was also a smaller sound proofed air conditioned and protected conference room on the 7th floor which was obviously the nerve centre of the A.C.A.P.S.Co A quantity of documents of considerable potential was seized. A more detailed search disclosed a steel door which gave access to the next building occupied in part by another union. A further one hundred and fifty people were arrested. of the total arrested only two hundred and twenty were detained. These included several men wanted by the police and known to be occupying important positions in the A.C ̧Â.P.S.C. There were no casualties.
5. The improvised weapons found included crude fire bombs, bottles of petrol, stacks of bottles on the roof, home made spears and some singularly unpleasant forms of bludgeon. No actual firearms were found though there were many wooden models of rifles and machine guns. In the F.T.U. workers club over two hundred cwts of rock were found strategically positioned for dropping on to the police.
6. It is as yet impossible to tell what the long term effect will be of these arrests. It is probable that our success has been limited to a relatively small sector but the damage to the morale of the Communists, never very high, must have been considerable. The complete success of the police, the effectiveness of our security arrangements and the complete lack of mutual support in a crisis between unions must have taken their toll. I believe this to have been a successful weekend's work, for which the police primarily, but also the military, who carried out cordoning duties, deserve great credit. The effect on the morale of the general public has been good and it is noteworthy that the considerable crowds who collected around the cordons made no hostile move.
(Passed to L.T.C. for Peking and Singapore and to
D.S.A.0. for Commonwealth Secretary, Far Eastern Dept., Foreign Office and News Dept. C.O.).
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