| Content Note | Topics covered:
Matters arising from the Minutes of the 402nd Meeting:
General Sir John Crocker provided an account of the visit by The Duke of Gloucester to 14 cemeteries and memorials in Belgium, Holland and Germany, which included a visit to Ypres where the Duke laid a wreath at the Menin Gate, and met over 200 Commission members of staff and their families at St. George’s Hall;
Vice-Chairman of the Commission:
appointment of Sir John Tredinnick Crocker as Vice-Chairman of the Commission, who succeeded Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore; appreciation of services rendered to the Commission by Air Chief Marshal Longmore during tenure of post placed on record; recommendation from the outgoing Vice-Chairman that the Commission should review its policy every ten years in order to reflect changes in global conditions;
Report of the 447th Meeting of the Finance Committee:
consideration of certain items in the report, including approval of recommended expenditure on treating the stonework of the Menin Gate memorial with silicone water repellent, with discussion mentioning the costs of the memorial's construction and annual maintenance;
Membership of Joint Committees: Appointment of Member:
appointment of Lieutenant Colonel M. A. A. F. Delporte as Belgian Official Member of the Commonwealth-Belgian Joint Committee following the retirement of Colonel Baron du Roy de Blicquy;
Examination of sketch design for Memorial Construction: The Ottawa Memorial, Canada:
Approval of the design for the Ottawa Memorial which had been prepared by the Chief Architect, Department of Public Works, Ottawa, with mention of a second design, details on the memorials location, design and possible manufacture, and comments from Sir Edward Maufe;
Sale of Property at Bayeux, France:
Authorisation for Brigadier Croxton Sillery Bale, Regional Director, French Region, to sell the property owned by the Commission at Bayeux known as “Hotel de Pommereau” following the establishment of new offices at Place du Marechal Foch, Arras;
Progress Report for the Quarter Ended 31st March 1957:
report that construction had yet to begin on 67 cemeteries (number reduced to 45 since the report was made), which included cemeteries in Madagascar, Greece, Persia (Iran), West Africa, and in Indonesia where political conditions had held up work; and 8 memorials (including Athens, Hargeisa, Port Sudan, Bombay, Chittagong, Ottawa, Ambon, and Auckland), and that the majority of headstones yet to be erected were for distant places such as West Africa or where access was currently denied, such as Thanbyuzayat, in South Burma and Indonesia;
General Notes:
reference to the Anzac ceremonies, and the attendance of the Vice-Chairman representing the Commission at the Anzac Day Service in Westminster Abbey;
Unveiling of the Dunkirk Memorial:
reference to the current preparations for the unveiling of the Dunkirk Memorial, which was due to be unveiled on the 29th June by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mother;
St. George’s Day Ceremony at Dover:
details of the annual ceremony marking the anniversary of the Zeebrugge Raid which had taken place at Dover on the 23rd April and which had been attended by Lord and Lady Keyes, the Mayor of Dover, and representatives of the three services;
Annual Act of Remembrance at the Runnymede Memorial:
brief account of the annual Act of Remembrance at the Runnymede Memorial conducted by the Chaplain-in-Chief Royal Air Force which had occurred on the 14th May, which had been attended by the Vice-Chairman representing the Commission, and which had also seen representatives of all the Commonwealth High Commissioners in London attend. Twenty airmen of the Royal Air Force had formed a Guard of Honour at the ceremony, and over 300 relatives had attended;
ATTENDEES:
The Right Hon. John Hare OBE MP (Secretary of State for War and Chairman of the Commission)
Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore GCB DSO (Vice-Chairman of the Commission)
S. D. Pierce OBE (Representing the High Commissioner for Canada)
E. J. B. Foxcroft (Representing the High Commissioner for Australia)
J. G. Hale (Representing the High Commissioner for New Zealand)
F. W. Thomashoff (Representing the High Commissioner for South Africa)
Brigadier M. G. Dewan (Representing the High Commissioner for India)
Brigadier Sultan Mohammed (Representing the High Commissioner for Pakistan)
S. H. Field (Representing the Secretary of State for the Colonies)
A. J. Isaac (Representing the Minister of Works)
The Right Hon. Sir Patrick Spens KBE GC MP
General Sir John Crocker GCB KBE DSO MC
Captain Sir Harold Campbell GCVO DSO RN
Sir Arthur Rucker KCMG CB CBE
Admiral Sir John Edelsten GCB GCVO CBE
Air Marshal Sir Charles Guest KBE CB
General Sir Charles Loewen GCB KBE DSO DC
SECRETARY
W. J. Chalmers CBE
ADVISERS
Sir William Halcrow M.Inst. CE (Consulting Engineer)
Sir Edward Maufe RA FRIBA (Chief Architect and Artistic Adviser)
Also in attendance:
Campbell Moodie (Office of the High Commissioner for Canada)
W. Wynne Mason MC (Assistant Secretary (External Relations))
A. K. Pallot (Assistant Secretary (Finance and Establishments))
Major-General J. F. D. Steedman CBE MC (Director of Works)
H. L. Simmons LLB (Legal Adviser)
W. F. W. Harding BSc (Chief Horticultural Officer)
A. S. Laing
R. I. Mill |