Sir Michael David Irving Gass (; 24 April 1916 – 27 February 1983) was the penultimate High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1965 until 1969, and the acting

Governor of Hong Kong The governor of Hong Kong was the representative of the British Crown in Hong Kong from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and commander-in-chief of the British Forces Overseas Hong Kong. ...

during the

Hong Kong 1967 Leftist riots The 1967 Hong Kong riots were large-scale anti-government riots that occurred in Hong Kong during British Hong Kong, British colonial rule. Beginning as a minor labour dispute, the demonstrations eventually escalated into protests against the ...

Education and war years

Born in Wareham, Gass was the eldest son of George Irving Gass and Norah Elizabeth Mustard. Gass was educated at King's School, Bruton, and then later obtained degrees at both

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. After university he entered the Colonial Administration Service. His first appointment was to the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

in 1939. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Gass entered the Army and achieved the rank of Major, he served in East Africa and Burma with the Gold Coast Regiment of the

Royal West African Frontier Force The West African Frontier Force (WAFF) was a multi-battalion field force, formed by the British Colonial Office in 1900 to garrison the West African colonies of Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia. In 1928, it received royal recognition ...

(1939–1945); he was twice

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

Career

1967 Hong Kong riots-Communists and Police

After the war he returned to the Service, spending three years in Ashanti and two in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

before being posted in 1958 to the

West Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

High Commission as Chief Secretary. From then until his retirement in 1973 he remained in the Far East, notably in Hong Kong where he was Colonial Secretary and Acting

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

intermittently between 1965 and 1969. In the colonial secretary's tenure, he and

Ronald Holmes Sir David Ronald Holmes (, 26 December 1913 – 14 June 1981) was a British colonial government official who served in Hong Kong from 1938. In the Second World War, he was assigned to the British Army Aid Group where he actively took part ...

and

Jack Cater Sir Jack Cater, (; 21 February 1922 – 14 April 2006) was the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong from 1978 to 1981. Cater was the third Chief Secretary under the Governorship of Sir Murray MacLehose, later Lord MacLehose of Beoch. He was the ...

and other government officials had to deal with riots in 1967 against

British colonial rule The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

. During the disorder,

Sir David Trench happened to be absent from Hong Kong and all of a sudden there was no one fully in command of the government. As a result, Gass became acting-Governor, and therefore it was Holmes and Gass who were in charge in the crisis. During the riots, he took a tough stance against the activists, to effectively control the situation, but has also become one of the main targets of attack leftist camp vocal opposition. He became High Commissioner for the Western Pacific on 12 February 1969. When he returned to England, Gass served as a Member of

Somerset County Council Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county. On 1 April 2023 the county counc ...

(1977–1981).

Personal life

Gass was appointed Commander of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

in the

1960 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1960 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to t ...

and was promoted to Knight Commander of Order of St Michael and St George in the

1969 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1969 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lond ...

. Gass married Elizabeth Acland-Hood in 1975. They had no children.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gass, Michael David Irving Chief Secretaries of Hong Kong Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George 1916 births 1983 deaths Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge People from Wareham, Dorset People educated at King's School, Bruton Governors of the Solomon Islands High Commissioners for the Western Pacific