ENG-1986 — Page 277

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THE ARMED SERVICES AND AUXILIARY SERVICES

In 1986 the 1st Battalion the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment was replaced by the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards and the 1st Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles was replaced by the 1st Battalion the 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles. Resident throughout the year were the 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles, the 2nd Battalion 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles, and the 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles.

Support is provided by a number of units permanently based in Hong Kong. These include the Queen's Gurkha Engineers, the Queen's Gurkha Signals, the Gurkha Transport Regiment, 660 Squadron Army Air Corps, the Composite Ordnance Depot, the British Military Hospital, and 50 Hong Kong Workshops, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

Hong Kong people play an important role through their support of the Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers) – a locally enlisted regiment of part-time soldiers – and the Hong Kong Military Service Corps, which is also locally enlisted but forms part of the British Army. The latter corps is staffed by full-time regular soldiers and numbers 1 272 Chinese officers and men who serve throughout Hong Kong as guards, military policemen, interpreters, dog-handlers, drivers, cooks, clerks, seamen and storemen. The Hong Kong Military Service Corps provides a valuable contribution to the garrison and has played an important role in operations against illegal immigrants.

The primary role of the Army is to support the Royal Hong Kong Police Force in maintaining internal security, and to be responsible for preserving the integrity of the border. In recent years, the Army's major task has been to help with the control of illegal immigration, with individual battalions spending an average of three months a year on border duties. A high level of border security is maintained and anti-illegal immigration operations continue to play a major part in the daily life of the Army.

Owing to limited space and the unsuitability of much of Hong Kong's terrain for training, a series of overseas exercises was mounted to maintain high standards of military skills. During the year, exercises took place in Malaysia, Brunei, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Australia and Singapore. In addition, a detachment from Hong Kong took part in a Five Power Defence Agreement exercise in New Zealand. Units of Gurkha Field Force also played host to visiting detachments from the 5/7 Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, and New Zealand Forces based in Singapore. The high standard of shooting of Hong Kong-based units was demonstrated at the 1986 Regular Skill at Arms Meeting held at Bisley, England. The 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles took third place in the Major Units competition and the team from the Depot Hong Kong Military Service Corps came fourth out of 24 Minor Units. Corporal Fung Kin-man serving with the Army Dog Unit, Royal Army Veterinary Corps became the first Hong Kong Chinese soldier to be selected for the British Army Team after he came seventh among the 200 pistoleers competing in the Service Pistol Championship.

Royal Air Force

The main element of the Royal Air Force in Hong Kong is based at Sek Kong in the New Territories. The No. 28 (Army Co-operation) Squadron operates 10 Wessex helicopters from Sek Kong airfield, and is supported by engineering and administrative squadrons. Included in the supporting element is an air traffic control unit, which also provides an advisory control service outside Hong Kong International Airport airspace. Movement of military personnel and cargo by air from Hong Kong International Airport is controlled by the RAF Airport Unit based at Kai Tak. The RAF Provost and Security Services Unit is