Sept. a1.
When a British naval officer has served as a sub-lieutenant in a-gunboat on the Danube, been transferred with her to the Red Sea' and Persian Gulf in order to study and defeat the wiles of the ingenious Arab gun-runner aiid lave-trader, he has obvious qualifications for coping. with epnditions on the Yangtze. "That aust ihave been in the minds of Lords of the Admiralty when they decided in 1931 to appoint Rear-Admiral Richard Hill Senior Naval Officer of the Yangtze in succession to, Vice-'Admiyal Colin MacLean, Therein defiance was flourished to the tradition which. assigned that command almost exclusively to Scotsmen, Perhaps the hardie hood. of the proceeding was mitigated by: the, fact that, if the intensity "of bandit opers-ti ions which included the removal of navigation marks, the destruction of signals and other mischievous pranks as a regular routine.
The Chinese Government had organise Pot than been able to land "operations clear the Middle Yangtze Valley. The reds were strongly establish. ed in Hupeh and the ravages of the great floods of the summer of 1931 had added to the general confusion.
Refugees from the loods had poured into the river ports in various stages of destitution and to them had to be added other refugees whose homes had been seized by the bandits.
The foreign gunboats set themselves to the task of ce-operating with the forces of law and order.
Rear-Admiral Hill's command played a worthy part in this international effort, cooping, of course, to. the. fore its primary duty of protecting British interests. Nevertheless sand this was the keynote of the Admiral's poliey—those it terests were best served by treating the problem as mainly international. Thanks to the cordial relations established by the Royal. Navy Hill had taken over command and fateful month lower down the River—there were twenty-two loceasions oh which the British gunboats had had to open fire lon bandits. Tne latter penetrate led as far down as within twal lies of the Wuhan Shipping was liable to atta anywhere between Hankow and Shasi, This state of things continued up to May—in April there Were actually 24 firings on the Middle River. Since Jawary Captain Baker had been pre soner in bandit hands near liochi—between Kienli and chow. That was one of many signs of the dominance of the reds. On the last day of Captain Baker, by the efforts of Mr. G. Findlay Andrew, was resed. In the next month General Chiang Kai-shek started his successful drive. By November 1952—the Han River area had been cleared two months earlier—the gunboats were able to report that from Hankow as far as Shasi and Shayang the passage for ship} normal agai JAt the moment. there is a teer deseence of uneasiness round lWantisien: but there is no reason fo believe that the stability which Iwas achieved- during Admiral Hil's period of command is in immediate danger. of distur bance, s0 long as the Government troops can withstand the insidious, but now too often exposed, blandishments of the reds. Sub ect as he has been to an extended ordeal of farewells, such as life in China seems to produce in a more lavish measure than anywhere else, Admiral not be overwhelmed with grief Jas he takes his last look at the Bund from the deck of the Rawalpindi. His departure how-lever will be much gretted.
saluted here with every ood wish for the future and apprecia. tion of the valuable services rendered by him as the chief Presentative of the Senior Fighting Service of Great Britain on the Yangtze,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.