ENG-1982 — Page 266

THE ARMED SERVICES AND AUXILIARY SERVICES

199

a recompression chamber for use in diving emergencies. This chamber has been used to save the lives of several civilian divers who have experienced difficulties on surfacing. A small clearance diving team has assisted the Royal Hong Kong Police Force in the recovery of drugs and smuggled goods and is trained in the techniques of searching for and neutralising underwater explosives. The naval staff in Hong Kong administers the Royal Navy berths in Singapore and gives training advice to the First Flotilla of the Royal Brunei Malay Regiment.

Under the direction of the Captain-in-Charge, a team is trained to co-ordinate a scheme of control for the protection of commercial shipping using the port of Hong Kong in times of tension or war. Personnel include officers of the reserve forces of the Royal Navy, the Royal Australian Navy, the Canadian Armed Forces and the United States Navy who are resident in Hong Kong and therefore ready at very short notice to activate the organisation. The team enjoys a very close liaison with the Marine Department and the shipping companies in Hong Kong.

The strength of the naval establishment, including reinforcements, is about 650 and is supported by some 60 locally-employed civilians. The patrol craft are manned partly by Chinese ratings and partly by United Kingdom-based ratings. In all, about 330 Chinese personnel are employed ashore and afloat in the seamen, engineering, supply and medical branches. A further 500 locally-recruited merchant seamen and storehousemen serve worldwide on board the ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and, during 1982, many of these seamen served alongside merchant seamen of the United Kingdom and men of the Royal Navy in the operations in the South Atlantic and the Falkland Islands; other Hong Kong men manned the laundries of the Royal Navy ships in the Task Force.

The Royal Navy has always played an active part in the life of the territory and during the year personnel have provided sea training for the Sea Cadet Corps and the Hong Kong Sea School, and given assistance to the Home of Loving Faithfulness and the Cheshire Home at Cheung Hom Kok. In October, the naval base was opened for all to visit HMS Tamar, and to meet the people who work on the ships and ashore.

In 1982, due to operations in the South Atlantic, no United Kingdom-based ships visited Hong Kong. However, ships from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei and Malaysia have visited the territory, and the ships of the Hong Kong squadron have in turn called at ports in Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines during their ocean training exercises.

The Army

X

T

The army represents the bulk of the forces in Hong Kong and overall command is vested in the Commander British Forces. Command of operational units is delegated to the Gurkha Field Force, while logistic units, grouped as support troops, come under the command of the Deputy Commander British Forces.

During 1982, the 2nd Battalion 2nd King Edward's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) replaced the 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles. Resident throughout the year were the 1st Battalion Scots Guards, the 1st Battalion 2nd King Edward's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) and the 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles. The Gurkha Reinforcement Battalion, which was raised as a result of the 1981 Defence Costs Agreement, was renamed the 2nd Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Gurkha Rifles and became operational in Hong Kong from April 1, 1982.

Support is provided by a number of units permanently based in Hong Kong which include the Queen's Gurkha Engineers, the Queen's Gurkha Signals, the Gurkha Transport