TNAG-1143-FCO40-1423-Hong-Kong-and-the-Falkland-Islands-crisis-1982 — Page 110

MINISTER OF STATE FOR

THE ARMED FORCES

ннн Mrn 020/2

D/MIN(AF)/496/82

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

MAIN BUILDING WHITEHALL LONDON SW1A 2HB

Telephone 01-218 2:16 Direct Dialling)

01-218 9000 Switchboard)

Нікад

ec

Fs/Lord Beistend

Mr. Cifferd

Hr. Donald

SAMD

Scar Ms Jam,

2876

уда

Sentar 2016

23 June 1982

1. Reg.ce. Arief scentar, Ithe

2. hy

3. PA.

b

141

Thank you for your letter of 23 May 1982, enclosing one you have sent to Mrs Thatcher. I hope that you will accept this letter as a reply to both of yours.

I know I speak for the Prime Minister when I say that I fully understand the concern you have expressed for the safety of your relatives serving with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) in the South Atlantic. The task force has had a difficult and at times dangerous job to do and there have inevitably been some casualties. I learnt with great sadness that during the attacks on the Atlantic Conveyor, Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram six Hong Kong Chinese personnel had lost their lives and a further eleven had been injured. Relatives have of course been informed and every effort is being made to assist them.

You wrote on behalf of the families of 17 sailors and you will probably know that one of them - Yuen Chiu Cheng was injured during the attack on Sir Galahad. He is now on board the hospital ship Uganda and will be repatriated as soon as possible. Of the other 16 sailors, two were on the ships that were lost and they are both safe. They are now en route for the United Kingdom, from where they will be flown home to Hong Kong. I am very conscious of the vital contribution that all the Hong Kong Chinese personnel have made to the success of the task force's operations, and those still serving on their ships will be relieved as soon as is practicable.

NR

You refer in your letter to the answer I gave to Mr John Prescott MP in the House of Commons on 20 May 1982. I should like to clarify what I said then regarding the conditions of service of Hong Kong Chinese serving with the task force. It is necessary to distinguish between those embarked in Royal Navy ships and your relatives serving with the RFA. Those embarked in RN ships are self-employed in an unofficial capacity providing laundry and other services. They are not members of the crews of these ships or even Ministry of Defence employees and have no obligation to remain on board in the event of hostilities. This is why they were given the option of leaving their ships.

Your relatives on the other hand are RFA crew members who have signed agreements to serve wherever their ships may be sent. Addition- ally the RFA undertook to pay a bonus to all members of the crew of a

Mr Tam Tat Wai

/ship