Page 384
2
the War Office. In the meantime, G.O.C. should make arrangements to guard this vulnerable point with the guns and troops at present available. The two 8-in. Howitzers which he has allotted to this part of the defence will be an important factor of it, but it is doubtful whether the top of Mount Davis is a suitable position for them. A high site is not essential to secure the full effect of fire from Howitzers, and their security from an enemy's fire will be better provided by placing them on a reverse slope or in some position where they will not be visible from the front.
4. Para. 8.-The organization of the defence into six sections, as now proposed by G.O.C., is concurred in.
It corresponds generally with the Scheme of R.A. command received from the station. From the point of view of convenience of controlling artillery fire, it might have been better if the battery at North Point could have been placed in the same fire command as the batteries at Kowloon, which fire generally over the same water, but in view of the greater facilities for supply and other purposes derived from placing this work in the Wong-nei- Cheong Section (No. IV) and of the comparatively minor importance of the battery both with regard to its position and its armament, the arrangement proposed by the G.O.C. is on the whole considered the best.
It is observed that the submarine mining personnel is distributed between three sections of the defence. To secure the most expeditious employment of men, vessels, and stores in laying the mine-fields, and at the same time the responsibility of the section Commanders in the employment of mines and electric lights in the event of attack, it will be convenient to follow at Hong Kong the system that has been adopted at other places under similar conditions. The Officer Commanding the Submarine Mining Company will, under the orders of the General Officer Commanding, lay out the defences, having at his disposal the entire submarine mining personnel for the purpose. When the mines are laid the officers and men will be distributed between the sections and pass under the orders of the Section Commanders for all matters relating to defence.
5. Para. 9.-The Committee understand that the defilading of the 9.2-in. gun in Kowloon East from hill No. 10 has been authorized by the War Office. They would point out that it is scarcely necessary for the G.O.C. to deal with a minor modification to an existing permanent work in correspondence relating to the Scheme of Defence.
6. Para. 10.-The Committee are informed that the G.O.C.'s proposal for the provision of a battery of 2·5-in. R.M.L. guns as an addition to the movable armament of Hong Kong is under the consideration of the War Office.
7. Para. 13.-The Committee are strongly of opinion that the communi- cation of intelligence and orders should be almost entirely by permanent telegraph or telephone lines, and that flag signalling should be confined to short distances within sections as recommended by the General Officer Com- manding.
8. Para. 20.-The conclusion, stated to have been arrived at after careful consideration, that it is inexpedient to lay boat mines in Aberdeen, Deep Water, and Tytam Bays, is accepted.
9. The subjects of the Inclosures A and B to the letter under considera- tion have been referred to in paras. 3 and 6 above. With regard to A, which is a letter addressed to the Secretary, Colonial Defence Committee, the Committee would point out that they only deal with correspondence referred to them by the Colonial Office, War Office, and Admiralty, and make recom- mendations to those Offices. They should therefore not be directly addressed by General Officers Commanding.
10. The Committee recommend that a Defence Scheme in the usual form should now be prepared on the lines of Major-General Black's letter, as modified by the foregoing remarks, and should be submitted through the Governor with as little delay as possible.
M. NATHAN, Secretary,
(Signed)
April 2, 1896.
Page 384
Colonial Defence Committee.
PRINTED AT THE FOREIGN OFFICE BY T. HARRISON.-4/4/96.
Page 384
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.