ENG-1964 — Page 240

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Local Forces and Civil Defence Services

THE Colony's auxiliary defence services consist of the Royal Hong Kong Defence Force, the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force and the Essential Services Corps. The Auxiliary Police Force is dealt with in chapter 12. The Essential Services Corps is split for admin- istrative and practical purposes into four autonomous services: the units of the Essential Services Corps proper, the Auxiliary Medical Service, the Civil Aid Services and the Auxiliary Fire Service.

All these services are paid for almost entirely from funds voted each year by the Legislative Council. Except for small administra- tive and training staffs they are manned entirely by volunteers training in the evenings or at the week-ends and in some cases for up to 15 days at sea or at annual camps. Service in the auxiliary defence units is a considerable commitment for the individuals concerned and also for their employers, who are generally most co-operative in releasing members of their staff for these duties.

Training obligations vary from service to service. The maximum is in those units whose members must every year attend at least 60 hours of instructional parades, six full days' training and a training period at camp. An allowance to cover out-of-pocket expenses is granted for attendance at instructional parades, while for a full day's training and for attending camp, officers and mem- bers receive a higher daily rate of pay.

The principal units of the Royal Hong Kong Defence Force are the Hong Kong Royal Naval Reserve, the Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers), and the Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force. Each major unit deals direct with Government and with its regular parent Service.

The Hong Kong Royal Naval Reserve comprises some forty officers and one hundred and sixty men, whose sea-going training is carried out in two Inshore Minesweepers, based in the Royal Naval Base HMS Tamar, which are on loan from the Admiralty

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