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the least it should be understood that neither the Traffic Regulations nor the laying of submarine mines should be put in operation without competent naval approval, whenever such is available."

Defence Scheme.

9. Page 15, para. 3.-The expression "state of siege occurs here and throughout the Report to indicate the condition of the fortress when mobilized for defence.

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It is considered that it would be better to use the terms "state of war or on a war footing," as the context may require, reserving the expression "state of siege," to define the conditions when the enemy is present before or in the near vicinity of the fortress.

10. Pages 19 and 20 (Organization). The present organization at Singapore divides the fortress into three sections, of which No. I comprises Fort Passir Panjang and the western half of Blakan Mati Island, No. II the eastern half of that island and the coast works to the north-east of it, and No. III the land defences. According to this arrangement the garrisons of Nos. I and II Sections consists of all the artillery at the station and 5 com- panies of infantry, of whom 210 men are told off as artillery auxiliaries, and the remainder distributed in detachments between the various forts. No. III Section comprises 24 companies of British infantry, and when mobilization is complete nearly 300 Perak Sikhs, while the bulk of the submarine miners are left entirely out of the sectional organization.

The Colonial Defence Committee have carefully reconsidered this organiza- tion which appears to present certain disadvantages. It does not, in the first place, seem necessary to provide strong infantry guards at each fort in addition to the infantry detachments told off to assist in manning the guns, who would, as well as the artillery, be available for repelling attacks on the works. It would be better to have small central forces in each section who could move to any place where a landing might be attempted. This, however, with the present organization would introduce a difficulty in the case of Blakan Mati Island, which comes into two sections of the defence.

It is inconvenient that the mine-fields should be in two separate sections. The details of command are also not at present entirely satisfactory. The Section Commanders of Nos. I and II Sections are the two Majors Com- manding the R.A. companies, and these officers are also told off (Tables B (1) and B (2) and pp. 93 and 97, para. 3) as Fire Commanders. Though this duplication of duties was suggested by the Colonial Defence Committee in para. 15 of their Remarks of the 2nd July, 1895, it has since been decided by the War Office that a Fire Commander's duties are such that he cannot also discharge those of Section Commander.

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The term "Fort Commander' occurs also in the present Scheme, and from the reference to "Fort Officers R.A.," on p. 104, it would appear that the Fort Commanders are not (as presumed by the Colonial Defence Committee in para. 15 of their Remarks of the 2nd July, 1895) the Battery Commanders of the R.A. chain of command, but intermediaries between the latter and the Fire Commanders. This is not an arrangement which can be conveniently fitted in with the chain of R.A. command and the approved system of communications. Either the Fire Commanders would not exercise their proper functions or those of the Fort Commanders would be suspended when the guns were in action under direction of the Fire Commanders.

In the present organization, the O.C. Singapore Company, R.E., is told off to a double duty, viz., to the charge of the submarine mining operations, which would require a constant change of position, and to the post of Fort Commander at Teregeh, which would involve his constant presence in that work.

To meet these various objections the Committee suggest, for the con- sideration of the General Officer Commanding, the advisability of rearranging the sections, so that No. I (southern) should include Blakan Mati Island and Pulo Brani, as well as Passir Panjang and Berlayer Point on the west and Tanjong Pagar Spit on the cast. No. II (eastern) Section would include

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