| Content Note | Topics discussed:
Welcome to W. Wynne Mason, Esq., M.C., representative for the High Commissioner for New Zealand, who was attending his first Commission meeting.
Approval and signing of the minutes of the 360th Commission meeting and matters arising from the minutes
A) Unveiling of the Lee-on-Solent Fleet Air Arm Memorial, Hampshire.
B) Jerusalem War Cemetery.
C) Accommodation and housing in French District.
Photographs of Her Majesty the Queen
Mentions that photographs of Her Majesty the Queen would be placed in the Commission’s offices in Wooburn Green, Arras, Brussels, Rome, Cairo, New Delhi, and Melbourne.
Bronze groups at Plymouth Naval Memorial
Mention that Mr W. McMillan, R.A., who had executed some of the sculpture for the Chatham and Portsmouth Naval Memorial, had designed two groups of bronze figures for the Plymouth Naval Memorial.
Death of Mr Charles Blythin
Refers to the death of Mr Charles Blythin, F.R.I.B.A., the joint architect for the Liverpool Memorial.
A play about a Commission gardener
Refers to a play in which one of the leading characters was a Commission gardener and of which the middle act was set at the entrance to a war cemetery in France, which was discussed at the 336th Commission meeting in April 1951.
Registers for Chatham and Portsmouth Memorials
Mentions that the first two bound volumes of the new series of cemetery and memorial registers for the 1939-1945 War those for Chatham and Portsmouth Naval Memorials - had now been published.
Discovery of a soldier’s remains in Holland
Mentions that human remains were found when a mound was levelled near Flushing, Holland and that a set of army buttons found with the remains were sent to the Imperial War Museum for identification where an expert identified the buttons were worn by French Marines between 1770 to 1820.
Report of the 405th Finance Committee meeting
Item 2 recommended expenditure on the construction of Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, France.
Item 4 recommended expenditure on the provision of a Cross of Sacrifice at Burnsland Cemetery, Calgary, Canada.
Item 5 dealt with the purchase of premises for an Area Office at Albert, French District.
Item 6 covered expenditure during the recess.
Item 15 dealt with the construction of Gwelo Cemetery in Southern Rhodesia.
Item 16 recommended expenditure on stone sculptures for the Tower Hill Memorial, United Kingdom. Comments that the Chairman visited Charles Wheeler’s studios and saw models of the sculptures representing the Seven Seas.
Item 19 referred to major maintenance at the Thiepval Memorial and that an expenditure of 22,880,000 French francs in the existing contract with Entreprise Reynes on the provision of scaffolding, asphalting of the terraces, and re-construction of the forecourt walls, with an additional expenditure of some 1,144,000 francs on contingencies, would be required.
British Commonwealth Graves in the Netherlands Fields of Honour, Indonesia
Refers to the Netherlands War Graves Foundation which had made a strong plea that the Commission should revoke their decision taken in September 1952, on the recommendation of the Anzac Agency, to remove the Commonwealth graves from the Dutch Fields of Honour in Indonesia and concentrate them in a single cemetery at Djakarta. Discussion on the matter with decision to suspend the authority for removal for the time being.
Request for Concentration of Netherlands Civilian Graves into Kanchanaburi, Thailand
Refers to a request received from the Netherlands War Graves Foundation for the concentration of Netherlands civilian graves into Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Thailand.
Examination of sketch design by Philip D. Hepworth, F.R.I.B.A., Principal Architect for North-West European District, for Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, The Netherlands, including suggestions for the omission of the pergolas and the paving round the Stone of Remembrance.
Examination of sketch design for Damascus British Commonwealth War Cemetery, Syria.
Examination of sketch design by Colin St. Clair Oakes, F.R.I.B.A., Principal Architect for India, Pakistan and South-East Asia, for Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore.
43rd Quarterly Report for the maintenance of war graves in the United Kingdom
Refers to the unveiling of the Cross of Sacrifice in the Canadian section of Brookwood Military Cemetery, United Kingdom on 28 June 1953.
Publication of a book of photographs showing the Commission’s cemeteries and memorials
Resolution relating to the contract for the publication as agreed with Messrs. Methuen & Co. Ltd.
General notes
Refers to the unveiling of the Cross of Sacrifice in Labuan War Cemetery on 10 June 1953.
Examination of sketch design for the Malta Air Forces Memorial.
Date of next meeting scheduled for Thursday 17 September 1953 at 11:00am.
ATTENDEES:
Admiral Sir Martin Dunbar-Nasmith, V.C., K.C.B., D.L. (Vice-Chairman in the Chair)
Frederic Hudd, Esq., C.B.E. (Representing the High Commissioner for Canada)
W.H. Bunning, Esq. (Representing the High Commissioner for Australia)
W. Wynne Mason, Esq., M.C. (Representing the High Commissioner for New Zealand)
C.H. Torrance, Esq. (Representing the High Commissioner for South Africa)
W.B. England, Esq., M.B.E. (Representing the High Commissioner for India)
R.J. Vile, 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.
The Rt. Hon. Sir Richard Hopkins, G.C.B.
The Rt. Hon. Sir Patrick Spens, K.B.E., Q.C., M.P.
George Sylvester, Esq., M.P.
ADVISERS:
Sir William Halcrow, M. Inst. C.E. (Consulting Engineer)
Edward Maufe, Esq., R.A., F.R.I.B.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. (Director of Works)
H.L. Simmons, Esq. LL.B (Legal Adviser)
C.R. Kirton, Esq., M.B.E. (Chief Accountant)
O.D. Holt, Esq. (Principal, Secretarial Branch) |