Record

Unique IDCWGC/2/2/1/340
File NumberCM 3/1/08
TitleCOMMISSION MEETING NO.340 - September 1951
Multimedia

1f\31f26c-f0a4-41a5-a407-3f0a1c95e0bb.pdf

DescriptionMinutes of the 340th Meeting of the Commission
Content NoteTopics discussed:

Apologies for absence:
Mr Moore (on behalf of the Minister of Works)
Captain Chopping (on behalf of the High Commissioner for Pakistan)
Lord Wigram
Sir Herbert Ellissen
General Sir John Crocker

Welcome to Mr George Sylvester, successor to Harold Neal, M.P. as well as Major-General J.F.D. Steedman, C.B.E., M.C. who had joined the Commission’s staff as Principal Deputy Director of Works.

Approval and signing of the 339th Commission meeting minutes
A) War Graves Agreements
B) Headstones for Service Graves
C) High Commissioner for New Zealand
D) Zehrensdorf Indian Cemetery
E) Jerusalem War Cemetery.

Death of Lieutenant-Colonel R.W. Bateman
Refers to the death of Lt. Col. R.W. Bateman, former Director of Works who was appointed in 1945 and had become ill after the Commission’s meeting in July 1951.

Report of the 384th Finance Committee meeting
Item 2 indicated that a start had been made towards the printing of the Cemetery and Memorial Registers.
Item 3 indicated to Members the contract for the construction of the Royal Naval Memorial at Lee- on-Solent could now be let.
Items 27 and 28 were the subject of separate papers which would be addressed later in the meeting.

Modification of the Commission’s title
Discussion regarding the proposed modification of the Commission’s title and the views of the participating governments, including Australia and New Zealand who were opposed to it, and South Africa which felt such a change should not be rushed.

First Quarterly Report of the Commission’s work
Comments that there was more focus on the work for the 1939-1945 cemeteries than the restoration and repair work in progress on 1914-1918 cemeteries and memorials.

Purchase and sale of motor transport
Refers to the question of purchase and sale of motor transport by the Commission’s Anzac Agency being discussed at the recent Finance Committee meeting.

Examination of sketch design for cemetery construction by Louis de Soissons, A.R.A., Principal Architect for Italy and Greece, for Rimini Gurkha War Cemetery, Italy.

Chatham Naval Memorial 1939-1945 Extension
Lease of the site for the Chatham Naval Memorial 1939-1945 Extension, Kent, United Kingdom.

Liverpool Naval Memorial
Leases of the site of the Liverpool Naval Memorial to be granted respectively by the Corporation of Liverpool and the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board for 99 years at a peppercorn rent.

Penzance Burial Ground, Cornwall
Resolution for Deed of Grant granting to the Commission the exclusive rights of burial in the area of land comprising the Services Plot in Penzance Burial Ground, Cornwall.

General notes
Unveiling of the Stone of Remembrance at Cambridge City Cemetery by Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Tedder on 31 July 1951.
Unveiling of the Cross of Sacrifice at Chester (Blacon) Cemetery by Sir Arthur Longmore on 9 September 1951.

Retirement of Mr Hugh Foster
Refers to retirement of Mr Foster who had joined the Legal Department in 1922 and had been the Commission's Legal Assistant since 1929.

Italian War Graves at Oxford and Brookwood
Mentions that headstones were provided for Italian war graves in the United Kingdom at Oxford (Botley Road) Cemetery and Brookwood.

Date of next meeting scheduled for Thursday 18 October 1951 at 11:00am.

ATTENDEES:
Admiral Sir Martin Dunbar-Smith, V.C., K.C.B. (Vice-Chairman in the Chair)
W.H. Bunning, Esq. (Representing the High Commissioner for Australia)
Major-General W.E. Stevens, C.B., C.B.E. (Representing the High Commissioner for New Zealand)
D.V. Serrurier, Esq. (Representing the High Commissioner for South Africa)
W.B. England, Esq., M.B.E. (Representing the High Commissioner for India)
Trafford Smith, Esq. (Representing the Secretary of State for the Colonies)
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.
The Rt. Hon. Sir Richard Hopkins, G.C.B.
Sir Patrick Spens, K.B.E., K.C., M.P.
George Sylvester Esq., M.P.

ADVISERS:
Sir William Halcrow, M. Inst. C.E. (Consulting Engineer)
Edward Maufe, Esq., R.A. (Chief Architect and Artistic Adviser)

SECRETARY:
F. Higginson, Esq., C.M.G.

Also in attendance:
F.C. Sillar, Esq., C.B.E. (Principal Assistant Secretary)
W.J. Chalmers, Esq. (Assistant Secretary)
Major-General J.F.D. Steedman, C.B.E., M.C. (Principal Deputy Director of Works)
H.P.R. Foster, Esq., O.B.E. (Legal Assistant)
O.D. Holt, Esq. (Principal, Secretarial Branch)
Date20/09/1951
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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