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there are rainwater catchments discharging into underground water storage tanks.
Outer defences consist of a dannert or barbed wire topped chain link fence, slit trenches, barbed wire entanglements, and at some locations concrete bunkers sunk into the hillside. Dense thickets and tangled undergrowth form a natural defence outside the perimeter. A later Police Commissioner, Charles Sutcliffe, who came to Hong Kong from Tanganyika, had the idea of improving the natural defences by planting the Mauritius or Cape Thorn. His idea was to cultivate the thorn all along the border fences and around the observation posts as a general security measure. The plan was not successful as the plant did not grow very well and in most areas never really developed as expected.
The man who gave his name to the new observation posts and whose idea it was to build them, was Duncan William MacIntosh, C.M.G., O.B.E., who assumed command of the Hongkong Police Force on Nov. 22, 1946. At the age of sixteen he joined the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1920 and served with that force until 1922 when he joined the Airdrie Burgh Police. In 1929 he was appointed an Inspector of Police in the Straits Settlements and was interned in Singapore during the occupation. After the war he became Acting Commissioner of Singapore Police, from where he was posted as Commissioner to Hong Kong in 1946.
Commissioner Macintosh was responsible for reorganising the Hong Kong Police Force after the liberation, and to him goes the credit for laying the foundations on which so much of the present efficiency of the force depends. One of his most important tasks was to improve the low morale among the men under his charge. He set about this by beginning a long battle to upgrade police pay, conditions of service, and above all living accommodation. He also concentrated on improving professional standards, and reorganised the Police Training School. He succeeded in his efforts in boosting morale, improving recruitment, and established an esprit-de-corps essential to the running of an efficient police force.
After leaving Hong Kong in 1953 on retirement, Mr. MacIntosh accepted appointment as Adviser to the Iraqi Police and spent some time in Baghdad. He died at his home in Surrey, England on September
175
there are rainwater catchments discharging into underground water storage tanks.
Outer defences consist of a dannert or barbed wire topped chain link fence, slit trenches, barbed wire entanglements, and at some locations concrete bunkers sunk into the hillside. Dense thickets and tangled undergrowth form a natural defence outside the perimeter. A later Police Commissioner, Charles Sutcliffe, who came to Hong Kong from Tanganyika, had the idea of improving the natural defences by planting the Mauritius or Cape Thorn. His idea was to cultivate the thorn all along the border fences and around the observation posts as a general security measure. The plan was not successful as the plant did not grow very well and in most areas never really developed as expected
The man who gave his name to the new observation posts and whose idea it was to build them, was Duncan William MacIntosh, C.M.G., O B.E., who assumed command of the Hongkong Police Force on Nov. 22, 1946. At the age of sixteen he joined the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1920 and served with that force until 1922 when he joined the Airdrie Burgh Police. In 1929 he was appointed an Inspector of Police in the Straits Settlements and was interned in Singapore during the occupation. After the war he became Acting Commissioner of Singapore Police, from where he was posted as Commissioner to Hong Kong in 1946.
Commissioner Macintosh was responsible for reorganising the Hong Kong Police Force after the liberation, and to him goes the credit for laying the foundations on which so much of the present efficiency of the force depends One of his most important tasks was to improve the low morale among the men under his charge. He set about this by beginning a long battle to upgrade police pay, conditions of service, and above all Irving accommodation. He also concentrated on improving professional standards, and reorganised the Police Training School. He succeeded in his efforts in boosting morale, improving recruitment, and established an esprit-de-corps essential to the running of an efficient police force.
After leaving Hong Kong in 1953 on retirement, Mr. MacIntosh accepted appointment as Adviser to the Iraqi Police and spent some time in Baghdad. He died at his home in Surrey, England on September
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