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DS 6
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65
DS 11/6/7
Copy No. S of
15
L
Copies to: MO2
ASD 2 Q6 QMGF F1(AD) AG Sec
Commonwealth Office
Foreign Office
Mr A.W. Gaminara Mr D.A. Campbell) Mr D.C. Wilson) (Mr J. Gray)
UNACCOMPANIED SERVICE IN HONG KONG
Ref: D/DS 6/7/116/4 of 7th November
1. You asked me to draft a passage, for inclusion in your draft paper, on the political implications of an ad hoc decision that 1 DWR should go unaccompanied.
2.
As you know, I consulted the Commonwealth Office and the Foreign
The Office, and the former then consulted the Governor again. Commonwealth Office have now heard (copy of telegram attached for DS 6) that the Governor would still be content provided that the matter was presented properly. And the Foreign Office have told me that, with the same proviso, they do not foresee any disadvantages.
3.
Presentation of course the crunch so far as I am concerned (though I recognise that there are other important aspects to the problem).
4. I am led in the attached draft to the conclusion that we could only decide to send 1 DWR unaccompanied, without pre judging the larger-term study, if we could find some convincing argument that applied to the present case only. I note that Q6 suggest that we might be able to plead temporary accommodation difficulties in Hong Kong. I am of course in no position to evaluate this aspect; but it does seem to me to be the only possible way through and it is therefore of crucial importance unless there are other compelling reasons (eg related to married family accommodation in their country,
No or to Service morale) for sending the battalion accommpanied. doubt you will be going into this further.
5. On a general point of handling, I suggest it would be as well to copy future drafts of the paper (and the subsequent longer-term paper) to the Foreign Office and Commonwealth office. They will attend the Chiefs of Staff Meetings at which these papers will be discussed, and I think it would be useful to keep them in the picture throughout in the same way that DPS drafts bound for the Chiefs of Staff are normally sent to the political departments at each stage. I will be happy to forward papers if you so wish.
R/104.
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(C.H. HENN)
DS 11
21st November 1967
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