1941, Thursday 31 July;
Major General Christopher Maltby was sweating badly, the heavy rain showers an hour ago had done nothing for the humidity, and although he’d experienced hotter days in India than the 28 degrees today, it had never felt as hot and sticky as this. In part it was his own fault, determined to inspect each gun position of Brigadier McLeod’s fixed defences had meant a lot of hill walking, despite his driver’s best efforts at getting his staff car as close as he could to the guns. With him inspecting the positions was a number of officers, all physically wilting in the heat, trying their best to keep up with the new GOC Hong Kong.
He’d arrived in Hong Kong on the 20th, onboard the SS President, and walked straight into the role, very conscious of the briefing he’d been given by Lord Gort, back in Singapore, where he’d had a stopover on his journey from India. Gort had been here in Hong Kong about a month ago, and had privately not been impressed with what he had seen. There were major changes to the defence forces assigned to Hong Kong, many experienced units, individuals and equipment leaving, to be replaced by local Chinese recruits. But the Governor, Sir Geoffry Northcote, was a 60-year-old man in poor health, and lacked any drive, while Maj Gen Grasett, had turned somewhat native, advocating reinforcing the colony, in the belief that it could be held in the event of war with Japan. Gort had deluded Maltby of those ideas, indeed, his words had been, if the Japanese want Hong Kong, they will take it, you just make them pay a bloody price for it. So, it was clear what his mission was, it was now about moulding what forces he had to achieve that goal.
The first thing that struck him, arriving on the Sunday, was how the lifestyle appeared so peaceful and easy going, Monday morning, in his office, he discovered that the working week was little different. Well, starting at the top of his command, in interviews with senior officers, he had got the message across that the lifestyle was changing, to a far quicker paced one, with Saturdays being part of the working week, as the Command needed to improve and fast. The rest of the week had been one of paperwork, and continued discussions with the same senior officers as to what changes were needed. He was in no doubt he was ruffling a few feathers, certainly the Governor was wishing even more for September and the end of his tenure. This week, better briefed on what he had on paper, he began touring the Garrison, discussing the issues and problems that those units had in real life, seeing a different story to the paper one, and looking for improvements.
He climbed up the concrete steps onto the gun platform for the BL 9.2-inch Mk X gun, deployed for 'counter-bombardment' work, designed to sink warships up to 8-inch gun heavy cruisers. This particular gun sat on the very top of Mount Davis, providing a fantastic view of Kowloon to the northeast right round, past Stone Cutters Island, Victoria Harbour in front, the east shoreline of Lantau Island, and both West and East Lamma Channels, split by Lamma Island, to down south. Maltby stood, hands on hips, gazing around at the sight before him, the view told him how strategically important this fort was.
He turned and faced his entourage, and spoke to the commanding officer of the 24th Coast Battery RA, Mount Davis, “it’s a lovely view you have up here Major Anderson, splendid, and as you said earlier, pretty much everywhere you can see a ship, you can hit it, a key position indeed. Now tell me, all these thick protective concrete bunkers and walls, are kept lovely and clean, how easy do you think they might be spotted from the air, wouldn’t it be a good idea if we hid the guns, maybe with some paint, netting, bamboo screens that could be laid down when you’re in action, just to make it a little bit harder for the Japanese eh!, yes, oh good, now where’s my Chief Engineer, ah yes Colonel Clifford, I wonder if one of your staff officers could be so kind as to arrange the provision of the necessary stocks and some expertise, while Major Anderson will provide the manpower. Lt Col Penfold, are all the batteries in the Western Command this exposed, I was of the understanding that a considerable amount of money had been spent on battery camouflage, I am quite keen to see just where that money was spent.” Penfold and Anderson exchanged quick glances as Maltby turned and began walking back down the steps, “Major Anderson, can you show me the two gun positions you have without guns, might we not make some use out of them?”
He was tired, his legs ached, and he was sure he’d caught the sun around his neck, as well as his cheek bones and nose, but sitting in the back of his Humber, with just his driver and Captain MacGregor, his ADC up front, for company, he could relax and reflect on another busy day of touring. It was the same story everywhere he went, corners cut, shortages, unfinished work, and lack of attention meant much of the fortified defences were not currently good enough, but hard work could fix that. More concerning was the attitudes of many of his officers and men, who saw themselves as in a forgotten backwater, deserted, and ignored. This more than anything, had to be changed, and one way of doing that was his tours, down to machine gun section pillbox inspections, vehicle workshops, as well as the obvious barrack parades, and field training exercises.
And, he reflected, there would be little help from either the RAF or Navy, the former having just three Vildebeest bombers for maritime patrol and observation roles, along with half a dozen assorted Moth biplanes, while the Navy was being steadily reduced, and would soon be down to a couple of gunboats, a few patrol craft, and auxiliary minesweepers along with a motley collection of support vessels, and the two submarines, who would quickly rebase in Singapore on any outbreak of war. Hong Kong’s defence and resistance to any Japanese invasion was firmly in his hands, and with the recent Japanese occupation of southern Indo-China, that invasion was growing increasingly likely.
