''These cuts will be going deep into the numbers of officers from major to brigadier and while I can't see Brigadier Hammerbeck being made redundant, it's at least likely that he has received an initial letter,'' one officer said.

''There are an awful lot of people walking around the Prince of Wales Building wondering how long they have got left here.'' Enlisted men who are sergeants or non-commissioned officers also face redundancies. Infantry regiments such as the Black Watch, who became Hongkong's resident battalion last month, are thought likely to be severely hit.

The 250 officers under threat of redundancy make up about a third of the 7,000-strong garrison's officer population.

Those who have been earmarked by the Military Secretary, Lieutenant-General Sir William Rous, will be told in a letter sent to their homes tomorrow morning.

But those with special skills felt to be crucial to the defence of the territory could escape the cuts even if handed compulsory redundancy notices. An appeal board will listen to any individual cases and have the power to overturn redundancy decisions.

The forces' promise of a job for life evaporated in 1991 when the British Government announced the staggered reduction of 40,000 armed forces personnel to a total of 116,000 by 1995. A total of 1,300 officers and about 8,000 enlisted men will be includedin the latest round of cuts.

Pressure has mounted since 1991 for the Ministry of Defence to scale down the cuts. Earlier this month, Defence Secretary Mr Malcolm Rifkind announced that 3,000 personnel would be reprieved. He also said that a series of regiment mergers would also be reduced.

But the British Parliament's Defence Committee said that the move was not enough to guarantee the army could meet its peacetime obligations in the light of increasing United Nations duties and commitments in Northern Ireland.

Another officer in Hongkong said: ''The goalposts have been moved since the initial decision was made shortly after the end of the Cold War. Most independent experts would agree that Britain could not uphold its responsibilities if it cuts back its forces to what is planned.'' Redundancy payments of about $1.4 million for a brigadier, $800,000 for a major and an estimated $400,000 for a sergeant would soften the blow, although some soldiers feared they would have difficulty finding another job.

A Security Branch spokesman said those who were trained in particular skills and had years of experience in Hongkong may find a job in the territory.

But he warned: ''They will get no special privileges and will have to join the job market like anybody else.'' One officer, who received a warning letter saying he was being considered for compulsory redundancy, said he was not confident of finding other work anywhere.

''I've spent about 30 years in the army where my job and skills are effectively to kill people and there isn't really much call for that in civilian life,'' he said.

The garrison spokesman said the cost of redundancy payments would be borne by London and would not come out of the Defence Costs Agreement, the deal in which Hongkong pays for two-thirds of the bill for the British military forces in the territory.

''Nobody likes to have to announce redundancies, but it is quite clear that the world is changing and the number of British armed forces does not have to be at the level it was during the Cold War,'' the spokesman said.

The Ministry of Defence in London added that while it had received less than half the number of applications for voluntary redundancies among officers, about 80 per cent of the required number of enlisted men had offered to go.