9.
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Apparently MacLennan did not acquaint his superiors with the fact that he had in mind to leave Hongg to join the Metropolitan Police until his memorandum dated 12 April 1977. Also there was nothing to suggest that his superiors followed up the indication given in the letter from the Metropolitan Police dated 14 January 1977 that MacLennan had it in mind to resign. Senior Superintendent Roper was rather annoyed that MacLennan did not tell him of his intention to resign earlier. On 17 May 1977 MacLennan was transferred to another post in Special Branch to serve out his remaining period before resigning.
10.
John MacLennan was struct off strength on 17 July 1977, when he returned to the United Kingdom. He then served in the Metropolitan Police until he applied to re-join The Royal Hong Kong Police Force, and was offered re-appointment for a term 2 years with effect from 25 March 1978. In his letter of 20 December 1977 to the Commissioner of Police, MacLennan said that his resignation was prompted by concern he had over the ill-health of his mother during his vacation leave at the end of his first tour and he now realized that he had acted "hastily in resigning" and "miss greatly the challenging career in Hong Kong." It is clear from his record and the circumstances of his re-engagement that there was no “black mark” entered against him. There was also no reason to view his return with any misgiving.
11.
On his return to Hong Kong, MacLennan was posted to the New Territories District and, initially, he served at the Yuen Long Police Station. He was then posted to the New Territories District Command Central Centre, and later attached to the Fanling Magistracy. While he was serving, in the New Territories, he resided at Room 5, the Single Officers' Quarters, at the Yuen Long Police Station, between 30 March 1978 and 9 December 1978.
12. In August 1978, John MacLennan was involved in what has become known as the Yuen Long incident (see Chapter 3). This investigation resulted in his contract being terminated on 28 October 1978. On 1 December 1978, the decision was reversed, and he was reinstated.
13.
On 4 December 1978, John MacLennan was transferred out of Yuen Long to the Ho Man Tin Police Station of the Kowloon City Division, where he served until his death on 15 January 1980. While he was serving at the Ho Man Tin Police Station, he occupied Room 410B, Ho Man Tin Government Service Flats, 19 Ho Man Tin Hill Road, Kowloon.
It would appear from the comments in his personal file that after a somewhat shaky start he was gradually on the road to becoming an above average police officer.
14.
B.
PERSONALITY AND CHARACTER
The MacLennan family is very close, and John always felt a great attachment for them, especially his mother. He wrote to her at least once a week and she replied at least as frequently. He kept all letters written to him by his parents.
15.
16.
John MacLennan was religious in outlook, although he was not a Church going Christian during his time in Hong Kong. He rarely swore or used obscene language, and disliked it being used by others. He was always punctual. He was very conservative in dress and was rarely seen without a tie, or jacket. When dressed casually, he wore safari suits, never T-shirts or jeans, and on formal occasions, wore a full Scottish outfit, with a dress tartan kilt.
17. He was very patriotic about Scotland, but equally loyal when speaking of the Royal Family generally. He loved pomp and tradition. He also used to play tapes of Scottish music, and listened to the bagpipes playing into the early hours of the morning. In loved listening to speeches of Sir Winston Churchill, whom he regarded as his hero.
18. MacLennan had many acquaintances in Hong Kong but very few close friends, and those he had were mainly European police colleagues. MacLennan was described by Inspector Peter Whyte, who had known him since 1967, as a "man's man", a "disciplinarian” and “extremely honest". Socially, MacLennan liked to become the centre of attraction at parties. He could be a bit “loud" sometimes, which tended to upset many people, and Inspector Whyte believed that some people might take MacLennan's behaviour as rude and arrogant. He was not the most popular of persons and, when he had had a lot to drink, which he would do quite regularly, he became very argumentative and arrogant. According to the manager of a Tsim Sha Tsui bar which MacLennan used to frequent, MacLennan sometimes adopted a somewhat "pompous" manner after a number of drinks; he became "Kiplingesque" when he was in the mood.
19. John MacLennan was apparently not a good manager of his own financial affairs-he was invariably short of money. His Bank Account shows that he was having cheques returned by the bank for such relatively small amounts as $80 and $100. At the time of his death, he had around 60 dollars in his Bank Account, and there is no record of any savings or investment of any sort in his name. What he did with his money is largely unknown, but it was obviously a problem for him. During 1975, he actually did part-time work as an English teacher at a school in Causeway Bay where he worked for about six weeks.
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