Record

Unique IDCWGC/2/2/1/252
File NumberWG 1831/194
TitleCOMMISSION MEETING NO.252 - October 1943
Multimedia

64\830bae-a70d-4e20-b602-25fce011c31f.pdf

DescriptionMinutes of the 252nd Meeting of the Commission
Content NoteTopics covered:

Circulation, approval, and signing of the Minutes of the 251st Meeting.

Announcement of the death of Mr H. Chalton Bradshaw, one of the Commission’s architects and tribute to him and his work which had included the memorials at Ploegsteert and Louverval, and also his role as an adviser on the Headstone Committee.

Welcome to Mr D. James Davies, representative of the Government of Newfoundland.

Departure of Mr H.T. Bailey of Messrs. Gurney and Sons, and Funnell, who had represented the firm at Commission meetings for 25 years.

Review Of Recent Events
Announcement that Mr Bruce had been reappointed as High Commissioner for Australia in the United Kingdom for another year.
Announcement of the death on September 26th of Colonel A.R. MacAllan, who had attended many meetings of the Commission as the representative of the War Office Directorate (A.G.13).
Announcement of the death of Brigadier W.E.C. Tanner, a member of the South African Agency.
Visit by Colonel Reitz to Brookwood on 30 September 1943.
Arrangements made for Captain Scholtz to visit Madagascar and advise on the treatment of present war graves there.
Establishment of Canadian war cemeteries in Italy and Sicily, referring specifically to Agira.
Brigadier Hart had left Cairo for New Zealand by way of the United States on October 9th, and General Williams had now taken over the control of the Eastern District.
The Municipality of Vevey had notified the Commission that they would set aside a plot of land in the cemetery there, adjoining the graves of some eighty officers and men who had died in internment during the late war for the burial of British officers and men dying during the present war.
Vice-Chairman had carried out a tour of inspection of war graves in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Somerset, and Dorset.

Report Of The 297th Meeting of the Finance Committee
Adoption of the Meeting of the Finance Committee, with reference to:
Item 5, which referred a resolution authorising the payment from Commission funds of the cost of engraving personal inscriptions on the headstones, where the cost was not met by relatives.
Item 7, in which the Red Cross had offered to assist Commission staff interned in Greece.
Also refers to discussions with the Man-Power Committee and letter sent to the Committee with reading of extract.

Maintenance Of War Graves In The United Kingdom: Fourth Quarterly Report
Photographs were passed around the meeting of special plots which had been set aside for war graves in the United Kingdom.
Refers to a statement in the Report to the effect that a Parochial Church Council in Warwickshire, while continuing to arrange for the upkeep of war graves, had decided to cancel their maintenance contracts.
Also comments about help from R.A.F. Stations, isolated burials, and German graves in the UK.

Negotiations With Allied Representatives – Fifth Report
The Vice-Chairman said that a resolution adopting the Report was not required. He hoped that members would read it if they had not already done so.

Construction Of Cemeteries In The Commission’s North Africa Area
Account of recent tour of North Africa by Worthington, with comments about difficulties of geography, desert environment, transport, minefields and booby-traps, and finance. Discusses meetings with representatives of the Fighting French, Polish, Greek, and Czech forces, as well as mentions problems of the commemoration of the Indian dead.
Also comments on architectural and horticultural treatment in North Africa, referring to specific sites such as Sollum and Derna.

Attendees:
Major-General Sir Fabian Ware, K.C.V.O., K.B.E., C.B., C.M.G., LL.D. (Vice-Chairman, in the Chair)
E. MacLeod, Esq. (Representing the High Commissioner for Canada)
V.C. Duffy, Esq., M.V.O. (Representing the High Commissioner for Australia)
C. Knowles, Esq., C.B.E. (Representing the High Commissioner for New Zealand)
I.T. Meyer, Esq. (Representing the High Commissioner for South Africa)
Sir Samuel Runganadhan (High Commissioner for India)
Colonel C.E.T. Erskine, C.I.E., D.S.O., M.C. (Representing the Secretary of State for India)
Lieut.-Colonel S.J. Cole, C.M.G., O.B.E. (Representing the Secretary of State for the Colonies)
D.J. Davies, Esq., C.B.E. (Representing the Government of Newfoundland)
J.J. Lawson, Esq., M.P.
Major-General Sir John Kennedy, K.B.E., C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.
Air Chief Marshal Sir William Mitchell, K.C.B., C.B.E., D.S.O., M.C., A.F.C.
General Sir Robert Gordon-Finlayson, K.C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.
Admiral Sir Martin Dunbar-Nasmith, V.C., K.C.B.
Colonel Sir John Shute, C.M.G., D.S.O., J.P., M.P.

There were also present:
Lieut.-Colonel Sir Frederic Kenyon, C.B.E., K.C.B., T.D., D.Litt.
Lieut.-Colonel Sir Herbert Ellissen, C.B.E. (Adviser on Post-War Organisation and Reconstruction)
J. Hubert Worthington, Esq., O.B.E., F.R.I.B.A. (Principal Architect, North Africa)
Colonel S.G.G. Fraser, M.C. (A.A.G., D.G.R. & E.)
Lieut.-Colonel F. Higginson, C.M.G. (Controller and Director of Works)
Lieut.-Colonel H.F. Chettle, C.M.G., O.B.E. (Director of Records)
F.C. Sillar, Esq. (Assistant Secretary, Finance)
Captain F. Tyrrell, M.B.E.
Lieut. O.D. Holt
Date29/9/1943 - 30/12/1943
Extent1 file
CollectionArchive
CategoryMeeting Notes
ArchNotePlease note that the downloadable document is the final version of the Committee Meeting minutes. Additional information, including the verbatim minutes and subsidiary reports, may be available in the physical file.
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