| Content Note | Topics discussed:
Approval and signature of the 391st Commission meeting minutes.
Visit of Her Majesty the Queen Mother to Paris and Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal to Lille
Mentions that during the recent visits of Her Majesty the Queen Mother to Paris and of Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal to Lille, the Chief Administrative Officer, French District, was invited to be present on both occasions.
Report of the 436th Finance Committee meeting
Item 1: Major maintenance work at the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial.
Item 2: Delays to constructional work at Karachi Cemetery, Pakistan.
Item 7 (b): Replacement of wall with a fence and hedge at Voormezeele Enclosure No. 3, Belgium.
Item 12: Expenditure for Cross of Sacrifice at Beechmount Cemetery, Edmonton, Canada.
Membership of Commonwealth-Foreign Joint Committees
Refers to the retirement of General Sir Robert Gordon-Finlayson and Admiral Sir Martin Dunbar-Nasmith, as well as the appointment of Admiral Sir John Edelsten, Sir Patrick Spens and Mr Hale as members where there were vacancies in the Commonwealth-Belgian Joint Committee, Commonwealth-French Joint Committee and Commonwealth-Italian Joint Committee.
Commonwealth-Foreign Joint Committees
Refers to the appointment of W.J. Chalmers, Esq. C.B.E. as a Member and appointment of W. Wynne Mason, Esq., M.C. as Secretary-General to fill the vacancies in the Commonwealth-French Joint Committee, the Commonwealth-Belgian Joint Committee, the Commonwealth Netherlands Joint Committee and the Commonwealth-Italian Joint Committee following the retirement of Sir Frank Higginson and Mr Sillar.
Plymouth (Weston Mill) Cemetery, Devon
Resolution for the signature and affixation of the Commission’s seal to the Deed of Grant by the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens of the City of Plymouth for the exclusive rights of burial in six non-war graves at Plymouth (Weston Mill) Cemetery, Devonshire.
Progress report for the quarter ended 31 March 1956
Mentions that approximately 19,000 headstones, out of a total for the 1939-1945 War of about 330,000, remained to be erected; Mention that one third of the 1939-1945 Registers had been published; mention that the total strength of the full-time staff of the Commission was only 1882; work of the Enquiries Section at Wooburn House.
Security and tenure for Commonwealth war cemeteries, graves and memorials.
Ceremonies of unveiling
Mentions that the Groesbeek Memorial was to be unveiled by H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester on 2 June 1956, and that at Cassino by Field Marshal the Earl Alexander of Tunis on 30 September 1956. Also mentions that memorials to be unveiled at Rangoon, Singapore, Medjez-el-Bab, Port Sudan, Hargeisa, Athens, Dunkirk, Delhi, Karachi, Ottawa and Brookwood.
General notes
Mentions that the Chairman and others had attended the Annual Act of Remembrance at Runnymede but were disappointed that there were not more relatives present.
Tour of Italy and Tunisia by Major-General Steedman
Brief account by the Director of Works Major-General J.F.D. Steedman, C.B.E., M.C. of his tour of Italy and Tunisia, including comments about major maintenance at Agira War Cemetery and efflorescence of headstones at Tunisia.
Retirement of the High Commissioner for Australia
Announcement of retirement of Sir Thomas White, High Commissioner for Australia.
Anzac Day Service
Mentions that the Chairman had represented the Commission at the Anzac Day service at Westminster Abbey.
Ceylon Agency
Mention that Mr Bandaranaike, on his appointment as Prime Minister of Ceylon, was made Chairman of the Commission’s Ceylon Agency.
Colonel R.W. Murphy
Announcement of death of Colonel R.W. Murphy, who joined the Commission's staff in 1919 and was in charge of the Commission's work in the United Kingdom District from 1929 until his retirement in 1950.
United Nations Cemetery at Pusan, Korea
Mentions that the United Nations General Assembly had passed a resolution requesting the Secretary- General to secure from the Republic of Korea the permanent use of the site of the Memorial Cemetery at Tanggok near Pusan and authorising the Secretary-General to make the necessary allocation of funds for this purpose.
VE Day Ceremony at Bucharest War Cemetery
Mentions that a Ceremony to mark the anniversary of VE Day was held on 9 May 1956 in Bucharest War Cemetery, Romania.
Pilgrimages by Airborne Forces Security Fund and Royal Ulster Rifles Association
Mentions that the Airborne Forces Security Fund was once again organising a pilgrimage to Normandy on the anniversary of the D-Day landings in June, and that the Royal Ulster Rifles Association were organising a pilgrimage in July to the battlefields of the Somme and Southern Belgium on the fortieth anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.
Date of next meeting scheduled for Thursday 21 June 1956 at 11:00am.
ATTENDEES:
Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore, G.C.B., D.S.O. (Vice-Chairman in the Chair)
Frederic Hudd, Esq., C.B.E. (Representing the High Commissioner for Canada)
L.R. McIntyre, Esq., O.B.E. (Representing the High Commissioner for Australia)
Brigadier H.E. Gilbert, D.S.O., O.B.E. (Representing the High Commissioner for New Zealand)
D.V. Serrurier, Esq. (Representing the High Commissioner for South Africa)
Brigadier M.G. Dewan (Representing the High Commissioner for India)
Captain S.M. Akhtar (Representing the High Commissioner for Pakistan)
I.B. Watt, Esq. (Representing the Secretary of State for the Colonies)
The Rt. Hon. Sir Patrick Spens, K.C.B., Q.C., M.P.
General Sir John Crocker, G.C.B., K.B.E., D.S.O., M.C.
Admiral Sir John Edelsten, G.C.B., G.C.V.O., C.B.E.
SECRETARY:
W.J. Chalmers, Esq., C.B.E.
ADVISERS:
Sir William Halcrow, M. Inst. C.E. (Consulting Engineer)
Sir Edward Maufe, Esq., R.A. (Chief Architect and Artistic Adviser)
Also in attendance:
W. Wynne Mason, Esq., M.C. (Assistant Secretary (External Relations))
A.K. Pallot, 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)
A.S. Laing, Esq.
R.I. Mill, Esq. |