HONG KONG GARRISON

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 25, 29 July 1942, Page 5

HONG KONG GARRISON

NOISY DEBATE AT

OTTAWA

(Rec. 9 a.m.) ' OTTAWA, July 28.

Amid tumult and shouting, in which the Prime Minister, Mr. Mackenzie King, described the Opposition members as a "mob," serious allegations were made in the House of Commons today respecting the Hong Kong expeditionary force and the Duff Commission of. Inquiry regarding it. Mr. King had been asked to table a letter from a Conservative member, Mr. Drew. Later Mr. King promised an opportunity for members to debate the contents of the letter, but today he declared that the Chief Justice (Sir Lyman Duff) was being maligned m i the House,. and contended that the I contents of the letter could not be used in debate for the purpose of .maligning the Chief Justice. The Speaker ruled that none of the Commission's evidence, apart from that contained in the Commissioner's report, could be used in the debate. i Just before the lunch adjournment Mr. King and the Conservative leader, Mr. Hanson, were on their feet at the same time, waving their arms and shouting. Their voices were.drowned in a chorus of calls for order. - Mr. Howard Green, a Conservative member from British Columbia, said that the Duff inquiry into the Hong King expedition revealed that tne Canadian force which was sent to China on October 27 was only partly trained. The men had not been taught the use of certain weapons which they were expected to use, and some oi them had not even handled them. Mr. Green moved a resolution .which said that the evidence at the inquiry revealed convincing proof of the incapacity of the responsible military authorities and demonstrated the immediate need for comprehensive reorganisation of the Defence Department.

OTTAWA, July 27. In the course of the debate the Minister of Defence, Mr. Ralston, said that the Canadian expeditionary-force had been sent in response to a British request for two battalions for garrison duty at Hong Kong. "Because it was a matter of common knowledge that the United States was none too ready to enter the war at that time, and also if Canada could help to deter Japan even by sending a small force, it was to the advantage of everybody that we do it," he said. "Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa all helped to hold back the Nazi forces in different theatres of war. Therefore it seemed to us that Canada ought to take some share in garrisoning the Pacific."