| Content Note | Topics discussed:
Apologies for absence:
Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore
General Sir James Steele
A.B. Moore (representing the Minister of Works)
Sir William Halcrow
Amendments to minutes for the 319th Commission meeting.
Photograph of Sir Fabian Ware presented to the Commission by Lady Ware
Mention that Members would be interested to see the photograph presented to Lady Ware. She had framed it and put an inscription around it.
Unveiling of the Cross of Sacrifice at Oslo Western Civil Cemetery
Summary of the unveiling of the Cross of Sacrifice in Oslo Western Civil Cemetery by General Otto Ruge, who had commanded the Norwegian Army at the time of the German invasion in 1940, on 5 November 1949.
Construction in Norway
Report from Mr McFarlane that construction in the area of Norway south of Trondheim was nearing completion, with the exception of the screen wall and Cross of Sacrifice at Kvam.
Visit of the Principal Assistant Secretary to the Netherlands
Mentions visit by F.C. Sillar, Esq., C.B.E., Principal Assistant Secretary, to the Netherlands to deliver two film lectures about the Commission’s work followed by another lecture in Ypres in October 1949.
Article about the Commission’s work featured in “John Bull”
Mention of the article entitled “Thirty Thousand Silent Cities” in the edition dated 5 November and those copies were circulated at the meeting for Members to see the article.
Remembrance Day
Mentions copies of the transcript of the broadcast for Remembrance Day from 6 November 1949 circulated at the meeting.
Mercantile Marine Memorial
Account from Edward Maufe about the negotiations with the Ministry of Transport, the London County Council and other authorities for a site on Tower Hill for a Memorial to the men of the Mercantile Marine who had fallen in the 1939-1945 War and had no known grave.
Graves in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Balkan countries
Report on the condition of graves in Malbork War Cemetery and Poznan War Cemeteries; construction at Olsany Cemetery, Prague; arrangements with governments of Roumania, Bulgaria and Albania.
Report of 364th Finance Committee meeting
Item 14 recommending expenditure on Malbork British War Cemetery, Poland.
Item 22, said that the Committee had suggested an altered distribution of an ex-gratia payment, which had been previously approved, to the two surviving children of one of the Commission’s gardeners who had been killed in a motor accident.
Item 25 recorded that the Committee had taken note of the Imperial War Graves Endowment Fund Balance Sheet.
Item 28 concerned a memorandum on the setting up of negotiating machinery for staff in the United Kingdom.
War graves in civil and cantonment cemeteries in India and Pakistan
Discussions regarding the Commission’s policy regarding the maintenance of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 war graves located in civil and cantonment cemeteries in India and Pakistan, referring to a statement made to both Houses of Parliament in March 1949. Also outlines suggestion for graves of the 1939-1945 war to be concentrated into four cemeteries and that no attempt be made by the Commission to maintain the graves of the 1914-1918 War beyond the time when the maintenance of the individual cemeteries in which they lie is discontinued, and that the names of those there buried, such as are not already commemorated on the Delhi Memorial, be commemorated on memorials to be erected by the Commission in three of the new cemeteries to be established.
Report of the 22nd meeting of the South African Agency
Mentions report and comment from the Chairman to correct a misconception which might result from paragraph 7 of the Paper, where it was stated that twenty-five refusals to look after the graves in the isolated farms had been received.
Examination of sketch design by Louis de Soissons, A.R.A., Principal Architect for Italy and Greece, for Villanova Canadian Cemetery, Italy.
Examination of sketch designs submitted by the Commission’s Anzac Agency for Lae War Cemetery, Bourail (New Zealand) War Cemetery, Adelaide River War Cemetery, Sydney War Cemetery; lowering of the front wall of Labuan War Cemetery; elimination of the flagstaff for Yokohama War Cemetery; modifications for cemetery inscriptions.
1st Division Memorial, Le Cateau
Resolution for the purchase of Treasury stock for the maintenance of the 1st Division Memorial, Le Cateau.
12th Bn., Yorks and Lancs Memorial, Puisieux
Resolution for the purchase of Treasury stock for the maintenance of the 12th Bn., Yorks and Lancs Memorial, Puisieux.
Items of interest
The Chairman apologised for the omission of the name “Yokohama British Commonwealth War Cemetery” from the third paragraph of the section headed “Anzac Agency”.
Date of next meeting scheduled for Thursday 15 December 1949.
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)
J.D. McAteer, Esq. (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)
W.B. England, Esq., M.B.E. (Representing the High Commissioner for India)
J.W. Balding, Esq. (Representing the High Commissioner for Pakistan)
R.C. Cade, Esq. (Representing the Secretary of State for the Colonies)
General Sir Robert Gordon-Finlayson, K.C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.
Colonel The Rt. Hon. The Lord Wigram, G.C.B., G.C.V.O., C.S.I.
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Herbert Ellissen, C.B.E.
Sir Patrick Spens, K.B.E., K.C.
ADVISERS:
Edward Maufe, Esq., R.A. (Chief Architect and Artistic Adviser)
SECRETARY:
F. Higginson, Esq., C.M.G. (Secretary)
Also in attendance:
Major-General W.G. Stevens, C.B., C.B.E. (Official Secretary, New Zealand Government Offices)
F.C. Sillar, Esq., C.B.E. (Principal Assistant Secretary)
W.J. Chalmers, Esq. (Assistant Secretary)
R.W. Bateman (Director of Works)
H.J. Brown, Esq. (Senior Deputy 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)
T.F.G. Carless, Esq., M.C. (Senior Records Officer (Historical))
A.S. Laing, Esq. (Private Secretary to the Secretary) |