| Content Note | Topics discussed:
Approval, signing and amendment of the 367th Commission meeting minutes:
a) 34th Annual Report of the Commission
b) Photographs of cemeteries containing Australian graves.
Visit by Her Majesty the Queen to Tobruk War Cemetery
Mentions that Her Majesty the Queen would visit Tobruk War Cemetery, Libya, on 1 May 1954 on the way back from the Royal Tour of Australia and New Zealand.
2nd meeting of the Commonwealth-Netherlands Joint Committee
Mentions that the second meeting of the Commonwealth-Netherlands Joint Committee at The Hague on 8 and 9 April 1954.
Signing of War Agreements with Iraq and Denmark
Mentions that the Commonwealth-Iraq Agreement was signed in Baghdad on 18 February 1954 and that the Commonwealth-Danish Agreement was signed in Copenhagen on 22 February 1954.
Interview between General Neguib and the Commission’s Chief Administrative Officer, Eastern District: Refers to an interview had been held the previous month between General Neguib and Colonel E.A. Griffin, O.B.E., Chief Administrative Officer, Eastern District.
Film lecture at Chilton, Aylesbury
Mentions that at the request of the Women's Section of the Chilton and Long Crendon branch of the British Legion, the Principal Assistant Secretary F.C. Sillar, Esq., C.B.E. had shown a film in the Aubrey Hall, Chilton, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, on 23 February 1954.
British Commonwealth Graves in Netherlands Fields of Honour, Indonesia
Mentions that photographs of British Commonwealth War Graves in Netherlands Fields of Honour in Indonesia were passed around the meeting and that these photos showed that the Commission’s decision to take no action at present on the proposal to remove the graves because of their unsatisfactory maintenance and position in the Dutch Fields of Honour was correct.
Vice-Chairmanship of the Commission
Refers to the retirement of Admiral Sir Martin Dunbar-Nasmith, V.C., K.C.B., D.L. as the Commission’s Vice-Chairman and the appointment of Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore, G.C.B., D.S.O. with effect from 18 July 1954.
Report of the 412th Finance Committee meeting
Item 1 concerned the authorisation for minor items of expenditure, up to a limit of £500.
Item 3 dealt with appointments to the Permanent Maintenance Staff.
Item 16 dealt with the expenditure on the erection of headstones at Murmansk, in Northern Russia, a matter which had been reported to the Commission at their previous meeting.
Membership of the Finance Committee
Resolution for the High Commissioner for Canada to be appointed as a Member of the Finance Committee vice the High Commissioner for South Africa.
Examination of sketch design by H.E. Jenner, A.R.I.B.A., Architect, for Schiermonnikoog (Vredenhof) Cemetery, Holland.
Examination of sketch design by Philip D. Hepworth, F.R.I.B.A., Principal Architect for North-West Europe, for Hamburg War Cemetery, Germany.
Examination of sketch design for a memorial to be erected at Fayid War Cemetery, Egypt.
Examination of sketch design by A. Stewart, A.R.I.B.A, Architect, for Ranchi War Cemetery, India.
Annual ceremony at the Runnymede Air Forces Memorial
Resolution for an annual ceremony of remembrance to be held at the Runnymede Air Forces Memorial.
Harehills Cemetery, Leeds
Resolution for Deed of Grant from the Corporation of Leeds relating to the exclusive rights of burial in the Services' Plot and the right to erect and maintain a Memorial Screen Wall in an agreed position within the Plot at Harehills Cemetery, Leeds, Yorkshire
Tour of India, Pakistan and South-East Asia District by Assistant Secretary
Report by Assistant Secretary W.J. Chalmers, Esq., of his tour of India, Pakistan and South-East Asia District, including comments about progress of construction programme, appointment of a Horticultural Officer and suggested removal of graves from Bididari to Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore.
Date of next meeting scheduled for Thursday 15 April 1954 at 11:00am.
Suggestion from the Chairman that, owing to the unveiling of the Plymouth Naval Memorial by Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret on Thursday 20 May 1954, the Commission meeting that month should be held two days earlier than the normal date, namely on Tuesday 18 May 1954.
ATTENDEES:
The Rt. Hon. Antony Head, M.P (Secretary of State for War and Chairman of the Commission in the Chair)
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)
E. McCarthy, Esq., C.B.E. (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)
D.N. Chatterjee, Esq. (Representing the High Commissioner for India)
Captain K.A. Rashid (Representing the High Commissioner for Pakistan)
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.
George Sylvester, Esq., M.P.
General Sir John Crocker, G.C.B., K.B.E., D.S.O., M.C.
ADVISERS:
Sir William Halcrow, M. Inst. C.E. (Consulting Engineer)
Sir Edward Maufe, Esq., R.A., F.R.I.B.A. (Chief Architect and Artistic Adviser)
SECRETARY:
F. Higginson, Esq., C.B., C.M.G.
Also in attendance:
W.H. Bunning, Esq., M.C.
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)
O.D. Holt, Esq. (Principal, Secretarial Branch) |