| Content Note | Topics covered:
Matters arising from the Minutes of the 440th Meeting
Appointment of General Richard Goodbody as a member of the Commission by Royal Warrant; preliminary work for the transfer of commemoration from Damascus Indian War Cemetery to Damascus British War Cemetery; developments concerning the proposed Commonwealth-Indonesian War Graves Agreement.
Canadian Agency of the Commission
Appointment of Gordon Churchill as Minister of Veterans Affairs and Canadian Agency.
Arrangements concerning the unveiling of the Athens Memorial, including agreement by HRH the Duke of Gloucester to unveil the memorial.
Account of visit by the Vice-Chairman to cemeteries in the United Kingdom, including those at Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick, Wednesbury, Wolverhampton, Stafford, Birmingham, Nottingham, Newark-on-Trent, Cranwell, Lincoln, Doncaster, Huddersfield, Halifax, Bradford, Harrogate, York and Ripon and Cannock Chase, the Malta Memorial, and Catania War Cemetery, Syracuse War Cemetery and Agira Canadian War Cemetery.
Report of tour of cemeteries in the Eastern Mediterranean and Gallipoli Areas by Dr George Taylor, the Commission’s Botanical Adviser, with reference to the pending retirement of Mr Millington, Area Superintendent in the Gallipoli Area, issues in the horticultural maintenance of sites on the Gallipoli Peninsula and proposed introduction of new plants.
Report of the 485th Meeting of the Finance Committee
Submission and approval of the Accounts of the Commission for the year ended 31st March 1960; maintenance at Dud Corner Cemetery under the contract with Entreprise Reynes; appointment of eight members to the Permanent Maintenance Staff; maintenance of Port Said War Cemetery.
41st Annual Report and Accounts of the Commission
Approval of the Report and Statement of Accounts of the Commission for the year ended 31st March 1960.
Stone of Remembrance for Australia
Arrangements for the erection of a Stone of Remembrance at the Australian National War Memorial in Canberra.
Examination of Sketch Design for the Memorial on Addu Atoll, Maldive Islands
Approval of the sketch design for the memorial on Gan Island, Addu Atoll, Maldives, designed by Mr R. P. Duckham, LRIBA.
Unmaintainable Graves, United Kingdom – Houghton-Le-Spring (St. Michael) Church Burial Ground, Co Durham: Approval for the proposed removal of four Commission headstones in Houghton-Le-Spring (St. Michael) Church Burial Ground and erection of headstones with superscriptions commemorating the casualties in Houghton-Le-Spring (Durham Road) Cemetery.
Unmaintainable Graves, United Kingdom – Chute Forest (St. Mary) Churchyard, Wiltshire
Approval for the proposed commemoration of one unmaintainable First World War grave in Chute Forest (St. Mary) Churchyard by the re-erection of the Commission headstone in Tidworth Military Cemetery.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission Superannuation Scheme (1952) – National Insurance Implications of the National Insurance Act 1959 on Commission employees and modifications to the Rules of the Scheme.
General Notes
Brief account of the unveiling of the Stone of Remembrance at Winnipeg (Brookside) Cemetery; details of the Annual Gardeners Services to be held at Westminster Abbey.
ATTENDEES:
General Sir John Crocker GCB KBE DSO MC (Vice-Chairman of the Commission)
Air Marshal A. M. Murdoch CB CBE (Representing the High Commissioner for Australia)
R. L. Jermyn (Representing the High Commissioner for New Zealand)
F. W. Thomashoff (Representing the High Commissioner for the Union of South Africa)
Lieutenant-Colonel A. K. Sahukar (Representing the High Commissioner for India)
Lieutenant-Colonel Fahim Ahmad Khan (Representing the High Commissioner for Pakistan)
J. H. H. Vaughn (Representing the Secretary of State for the Colonies)
J. W. T. Pritchard (Representing the Minister of Works)
The Right Hon. Lord Spens KBE
Admiral Sir John Edelsten GCB GCVO CBE
SECRETARY
W. J. Chalmers CBE (Director-General)
ADVISER
Sir Edward Maufe RA FRIBA (Chief Architect and Artistic Adviser)
Also in attendance:
W. Wynne Mason MC ((Assistant Secretary) Director of External Relations and Records)
A. K. Pallot ((Assistant Secretary) Director of Finance and Establishments)
Major-General J. F. D. Steedman CBE MC (Director of Works)
H. L. Simmons LLB (Legal Adviser and Solicitor)
W. F. W. Harding CBE BSc (Chief Horticultural Officer)
A. S. Laing MVC (Deputy Establishment Officer)
P. J. Cook |