9th-12th-Lancers - Year 1985 - Page 0110
Image details
| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 1985 |
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THE 9THJ [2TH ROYAL LANCERS REGIMENTAL JOURNAL Ten Days in China — A Glimpse at the Other Side in June 1980, I found myself serving on the staff of the Gurkhas Field Force Commander in the New TerritoriesI Hong Kong, the only cavalryman in a Force which consisted of 8,000 Gurkhas. One of the tasks of this lowly Grade Three Staff Officer was to arrange the visit programmes of the very many ‘brass haLs'. distinguished guests and ”Swanners“ who wished to see the only border which Britain defends against a Communist neighbour. outside Europe. and to watch the operations designed to arrest the Chinese who were attempting to gain illegal entry into the Crown Colony. These visits usually lasted four hours. They started at the Headquarters. Sek Kong and involved a briefing by the Commander. Brigadier Ian Christie or by his Deputy Colonel Courtney Welch, then a helicopter journey over the Western Marshes followed by a landrover journey along the border to the most Eastern village, In 370 days we had 250 visitors, The visitors included members of the Royal Family, four Cabinet Ministers. the entire Army Board less one and a host of lesser mortals who claimed they had come to help. The incidence of visitors interestingly increased a week before Easter and Christmas when officers from MOD require to purchase cheaper hosiery and presents for their families than can be obtained in Britain. These visits were irreverently known as “Morpeth’s Mystery Tours". This. 1 hasten to add, was a joke in bad taste. Having arranged these visits with monotonous regularity i decided to undertake a journey in the area myself but, put myself in the hands of professionals to organise the trip, The aim of this short article is to describe a ten day visit to China without sending you to sleep. l placed myself in the capable hands of China Travel Agents in Hong Kong. i paid a cheque for £400, obtained clearance from the MOD. and arrived at the The lcnmlvnl'Gnutl lltittc~|~ Poking main station at Victoria island, Hong Kong. There were 17 other individuals at the station. There were 12 American from the mid-west all smarting from the embarrassment caused by the failure of the United States to rescue the hostages held by the lranians in the US Embassy in Tehran. A fact which was ruthlessly, successfully but not very subtly exploited by the Canadian and Australian married civil servants who had brought along their attractive female secretaries for a “jolly". for the entire ten days. The other member of the party was an “Old Testament prophet from Naru", the island in the South Pacific. His knowledge of the scriptures was poor. He required and received frequent textual correction. We travelled to L0 Wu and crossed the railway bridge into China. We spent the first night in Canton. now an unattractive. semi-industrialized city. We were flown north to Hangchow, the lake city where the Chinese Emperors took their summer holidays. We arrived in the evening and were despatched to a hotel which had been constructed in the l920s and modernised for tourists only recently. i had been forewarned by a Corporal in the Intelligence Corps who had briefed me in Hong Kong prior to my journey only to venture out in pairs for safety and security. This presented difficulties. The American dozen wished to stay as a group, the Australians and the Canadians interests lay in the boudoir and not in the local |
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