Mackenzie King agreed to sent C Force to Hong Kong as it would allow him to say that his government was supporting Britain while at the same time since the purpose of C Force was to deter Japanese from invading Hong Kong it seemed to promise there would be no losses in combat.. Crerar's memo claiming that was "no military risk" had considerable influence with Mackenzie King who believed that C Force would only be doing guard duty in Hong Kong.. At the same time, the claim that C Force would deter Japan from war would allow Mackenzie King to claim that Canada was playing an important role in protecting the British empire and would help him resist the pressure to send Canadian troops to fight in Egypt. Mackenzie King seems to be either unaware or did not care that Crerar, a bureaucratic general who had never seen action, had an "authoritarian submissive" personality with a tendency to say whatever his superiors wanted to hear.