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THE ARMED SERVICES

Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers)

The Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers) was formed in May 1854, when the Crimean War led to a reduction in the British military presence in Hong Kong.

The regiment, then known as the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, was heavily involved in the battle for Hong Kong in December 1941, during which over 2 200 soldiers and officers were mobilised. The corps lost over 200 personnel, killed or missing, during the battle and was awarded 19 decorations and 18 mentions in despatches for gallantry and service during the war.

Today, it is a light reconnaissance regiment of part-time volunteers. Its role includes reconnaissance, anti-illegal immigration operations and assistance to other government departments in the event of natural disasters. It is administered and financed by the Hong Kong Government but if called out, it is commanded by the Commander British Forces and forms part of 48 Gurkha Infantry Brigade. The regiment will be disbanded in September 1995. By then, it will have existed in various forms for 141 years.

The regiment has an establishment of 946 volunteers and 54 permanent staff, including nine regular officers and soldiers on loan from the British Army, one of whom is the Commanding Officer. The volunteers come from all walks of life and are of various nationalities, although over 97 per cent are Chinese. In June, a total of 175 recruits, of whom 34 were female, successfully completed their six-month basic training. They are the regiment's final cadre of recruits.

The Regiment consists of four sabre squadrons, a home guard squadron and a headquarters squadron which includes a women's troop, with a strength of 88, who provide support in various operational duties as searchers, interpreters and radio operators. The regiment also runs a junior leaders' corps of around 300 boys, aged from 14 to 17, which provides training in youth activities and leadership skills.

Each year, selected volunteers are sent for overseas training and on attachments to British Army regiments in the United Kingdom. Officer cadets receive military training at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, before they receive their commissions.

The training commitment for each volunteer is two evenings and one weekend each month. There are also centrally-organised regimental training programmes such as military courses, regimental camps and exercises. The camps, which are the highlight of the year's training, take place over eight days in May and November. In addition, the Volunteers are deployed on the border for anti-illegal immigration operations. Working alongside the police, the Volunteers captured a total of 97 illegal immigrants during their border operation in May.