| Content Note | Topics discussed:
Apologies for absence:
The High Commissioner for South Africa (Mr Meyer being prevented from attending)
Harold Neal
General Sir James Steele
Sir Patrick Spens
Sir William Halcrow
Death of His Excellency the Right Honourable J.A. Beasley
Mentions recent death and gives brief summary of the career of the late Mr Beasley, Australian Resident Minister and later High Commissioner for Australia in London, who had been a Member of the Commission since 1946.
Tribute to Sir Fabian Ware by the Trustees of the Imperial War Graves Endowment Fund
Refers to tribute by Trustees given at their meeting on 13 September 1949.
Tablet to be erected in Westminster Abbey in memory of the late Sir Fabian Ware
Mention that the Dean of Westminster had agreed to the proposal and that Sir Charles Peers, Surveyor to the Abbey and an old friend of Sir Fabian, was preparing the design.
Ceremony at Grimsby (Scartho Road) Cemetery, Lincolnshire
Mention that Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore, accompanied by the Secretary and the Chief Administrative Officer, United Kingdom District had attended a ceremony to unveil the Stone of Remembrance at Grimsby (Scartho Road) Cemetery on 8 September 1949.
Visit by Harold Neal to cemeteries situated in the North-West European and French districts
Mention that Mr Harold Neal, Chairman of the Joint Negotiating Committee, accompanied by Mr Goss of the Transport and General Workers Union, and the Assistant Secretary, had visited the North-West European and French Districts for a ten-day tour at the end of August, when they had seen members of the staff and their families in Holland, Belgium, and France.
Local interest in the maintenance of war cemeteries in Holland
Refers to report of deliberations from the Netherland War Graves Committee and discussion about managing damage to grass and flowers in cemeteries due to attendance of large crowds of people at commemorative ceremonies and events.
Headstones in Glasgow cemeteries
Discussion about reports of neglected condition of Glasgow cemeteries, particularly Glasgow (Eastwood) Cemetery.
Visit of His Excellency the Governor-General of Australia the Right Honourable W.J. McKell, K.C., to Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery on 28 July 1949 - Brief report of visit, where His Excellency was received by Lieutenant-Colonel L.S. Harrop, District Inspector, Pacific Area of the Anzac Agency, and laid a wreath at the cemetery's flagstaff.
Visit of the Minister of Defence for the Union of South Africa the Honourable F.C. Erasmus to Delville Wood (South African) memorial on 27 July 1949 - Brief report of visit, and mention that other visitors in the party included Lieutenant-General L. Beyers, Chief of General Staff, Union Defence Forces, and Brigadier H.S. Cilliers, C.B.E., Director of Policy Co-ordination and Commandant of the Military College in Pretoria.
Visit of His Eminence the Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal Gilroy to Yokohama War Cemetery on 10 June 1949 - Brief report of visit and mention that His Eminence wrote in the Visitors’ book: “This cemetery is a credit to all concerned.”
Ypres Settlement Committee
Refers to take-over of the Ypres Settlement Committee by the British Legion. Also mentions the Vice-Chairman and he had been invited to attend the institution of the Reverend. J.S. Fowler as Chaplain of St. George's Memorial Church, Ypres, by the Bishop of Kensington, on 13 September, but they had been unable to go and the Deputy Director of Works had attended instead.
Wreath-laying ceremony at the Newfoundland Memorial, Beaumont Hamel
Refers to report received from Colonel Rendell that the usual wreath-laying ceremony took place at the Newfoundland National Memorial, Beaumont-Hamel on 1 July 1949.
Graves in Poland
Refers to concentration of British graves in Poland into three cemeteries, with discussion about issue over handover of cemeteries due to no Commission representative present in the country at the time.
Report of the 362nd meeting of the Finance Committee
Item 6 recommended expenditure on the replacement of temporary crosses in North-West European District.
Item 8 recommended the acceptance for further contracts for headstones in the United Kingdom.
Item 10 concerned the transport of headstones from the United Kingdom to the North-West European and French Districts.
Item 15 gave details of several promotions.
Item 16 indicated a change of policy in that Drawing Offices on a rather larger than usual scale were being established in France and North West European District because the required technical staff could not be found in the United Kingdom.
Item 19 dealt with the appointment of an officer recommended by the Colonial Office to undergo a tour on the Commission’s behalf of sites in West Africa.
Item 21 asked for an approval of the purchase of a house for the occupation of the Head Gardener of the Dieppe-Le Treport Group in the French District.
Item 25 asked for authority for the expenditure on welfare, during the year ending 31 March 1950, of £95 in the North-West European District and £40 in the Southern European District.
Report on the work of the Canadian Agency by the Secretary-General Mr A Lewis Watson
Mentions work of the agency in Canada and the United States and that Mr Watson had recently completed an extensive tour of Newfoundland.
Examination of sketch design by Edward Maufe, R.A., Chief Architect and Artistic Adviser, for Harrogate (Wetherby Road) Cemetery, as well as sketch designs by Louis de Soissons, A.R.A., Principal Architect for Italy and Greece, for Santerno Valley Military Cemetery and Castiglione South African Cemetery.
Examination of sketch designs submitted by the Commission’s Anzac Agency for Makassar War Cemetery, Richmond General Cemetery and Rockhampton Cemetery.
Purchase by the Commission of the premises situated at 90, Rue Cassel, Estaires, Nord, France.
Purchase by the Commission of a house for occupation by the Head Gardener, Dieppe-Le Treport Group.
Hastings Cemetery, Sussex
Preservation of the Service Plot of war graves of the 1939/45 War in Hastings Cemetery, Sussex.
Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire
Resolution for Deed of Grant of burial rights in war graves of the 1939/45 War in Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Poole, Parstone, Branksome and Broadstone Cemeteries, Dorset
Resolution for Deed of Grant of exclusive rights of burial in war graves of the 1939/45 War in the Poole, Parstone, Branksome and Broadstone Cemeteries
Ulster Memorial, Thiepval and 50th Division Memorial, Wieljte,Belgium
Resolution for the purchase of stock for the maintenance of the Ulster Memorial, Thiepval and the 50th Division Memorial, Wieljte, Belgium.
Graves in the Maldives Islands
Refers to agreement by the government of the Maldive Islands to bear the entire cost for the maintenance of all war graves there.
Date of next meeting scheduled for Thursday 20 October 1949 at 11:00am.
ATTENDEES:
Admiral Sir Martin Dunbar-Smith, V.C., K.C.B. (Vice-Chairman in the Chair)
J.P. Sigvaldason, Esq. (Representing the High Commissioner for Canada)
V.C. Duffy, Esq., M.V.O. (Representing the High Commissioner for Australia)
E.A. Broadbridge, Esq. (Representing the High Commissioner for New Zealand)
W.B. England, Esq., M.B.E. (Representing the High Commissioner for India)
J.W. Balding, Esq. (Representing the High Commissioner for Pakistan)
D.K. Malone, Esq. (Representing the Secretary of State for the Colonies)
A.B. Moore, Esq. (Representing the Minister of Works)
General Sir Robert Gordon-Finlayson, K.C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore, G.C.B., D.S.O.
Colonel The Rt. Hon. The Lord Wigram, G.C.B., G.C.V.O., C.S.I.
The Right Hon. Sir Richard Hopkins, G.C.B.
Harold Neal, Esq., M.P.
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Herbert Ellissen, C.B.E.
ADVISERS:
Edward Maufe, Esq., R.A. (Chief Architect and Artistic Adviser)
SECRETARY:
F. Higginson, Esq., C.M.G. (Secretary)
Also in attendance:
F.C. Sillar, Esq., C.B.E. (Principal Assistant Secretary)
W.J. Chalmers, Esq. (Assistant Secretary)
R.W. Bateman (Director of Works)
O.D. Holt, Esq. (Principal, Secretarial Branch)
H.P.R. Foster, Esq., O.B.E. (Legal Assistant)
W.K.K. Kinnear (Chief Records Officer)
F. Tyrrell, Esq., M.B.E. (Chief Enquiries Officer)
M.D. Fyfe, Esq. (Assistant to Principal, Secretarial Branch)
A. Lewis Watson, Esq., M.B.E. (Secretary-General, Canadian Agency)
R.W. Murphy, O.B.E. (Chief Administrative Officer, United Kingdom District) |