| Content Note | Topics covered:
Matters arising from the Minutes of the 441st Meeting
Chairman corresponds with Gordon Churchill, the Commission’s new Agent in Canada, and Dr George Taylor, Botanical Adviser for the Commission, regarding tour of cemeteries in the Eastern Mediterranean and Gallipoli Areas; publication of the 41st Annual Report; account of the annual Gardeners’ Service at Westminster Abbey attended by two gardeners from the Albert Area; provision of the text from the Remembrance Day broadcast.
Announcement concerning the departure of Dr A. J. R. van Rhijn, who had served as the High Commissioner for the Union of South Africa.
Report on negotiations for the return of Jerusalem War Cemetery to the control of the Commission with the Israel and Jordan delegates to the Mixed Armistice Commission;
Update on the situation in Egypt and Syria, with specific reference to members of the Commission’s staff required to visit Egypt or Syria that had been placed on the Security List of the United Arab Republic;
Publication of an article in the Yorkshire Post on the Commission’s work.
Account of visit by the Chairman and Brigadier C. S. Vale, Regional Director, to 40 cemeteries situated along the coast from Boulogne to Le Havre in the Caen Area;
Recount of tour by Mr J. N. Hogg in the Northern Region, which included visits to Le Touret Military Cemetery and Memorial and the Indian Memorial at Neuve Chapelle, both of which required repairs;
Report by Major-General Steedman, Director of Works, regarding visit to Tunisia and Libya in order to study the rate of deterioration of Portland headstones and the effects of special treatment.
Report of the 486th Meeting of the Finance Committee
Estimates for maintenance work required at Le Touret Military Cemetery and Memorial under the contract with Entreprise Reynes; maintenance work at the Indian Memorial at Neuve Chapelle to repair damage caused by atmospheric pollution.
Commonwealth-Foreign Joint Committees
Appointment of Sir Pierson Dixon, United Kingdom Ambassador at Paris, as Commonwealth Honorary Member of the Commonwealth-French Joint Committee; appointment of Mr H. F. Clark, Counsellor to the Canadian High Commissioner in London, as Commonwealth Official Member for the Commonwealth-Belgian Joint Committee; appointment of Mr B. A. Keith, Counsellor to the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo, as Commonwealth Member of the Commonwealth-Japanese Joint Committee.
Arrangements for the commemoration of four Commonwealth war burials in Radcliffe (St. Thomas’s) Churchyard by the erection of a special memorial with a suitable superscription in Radcliffe Cemetery.
Approval for the commemoration of two First World War burials in Sacriston (St. Peter) Churchyard, which was to be converted to lawn treatment, by the erection of Commission headstones with suitable superscriptions in Sacriston Cemetery.
Financial arrangements for the maintenance of the 36th (Ulster) Division Memorial at Thiepval, which commemorated the Division’s role in the fighting on the Somme in 1916.
Progress Report for the Quarter Ended 30th September 1960
Update on the construction of Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery, which was scheduled for completion in January 1961; comments by Air Chief Marshal Arthur Longmore regarding the Commission’s ability to carry out its work with 1,740 staff.
Reports from the United Kingdom, Northern, Southern and Eastern Regions, Canadian Agency and Anzac Agency for the Pacific Region for the Quarter Ended 30th September 1960: agreement with the Staffordshire County Council to transfer the site of the proposed German concentration cemetery at Cannock Chase to the Commission.
General Notes
Announcement concerning the 10,000th ceremony of the sounding of the Last Post at the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial and annual ceremony at El Alamein War Cemetery; attendance by Gordon Churchill, Commission’s Agent in Canada, at the annual ceremony at the Vimy Memorial; arrangements for a private showing of the Commission’s film at Head Office and suggestion to include captions indicating the battles related to each cemetery or memorial shown.
ATTENDEES:
General Sir John Crocker GCB KBE DSO MC (Vice-Chairman of the Commission)
Mr H. F. Clark (Representing the High Commissioner for Canada)
Air Vice-Marshal A. M. Murdoch CB CBE (Representing the High Commissioner for Australia)
Mr R. L. Jermyn (Representing the High Commissioner for New Zealand)
Mr 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)
Mr J. H. H. Vaughn (Representing the Secretary of State for the Colonies)
Mr J. W. T. Pritchard (Representing the Minister of Works)
Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore GCB DSO
The Rt. Hon. Lord Spens KBE
Mr G. O. Sylvester MP
Air Marshal Sir Charles Guest KBE CB
Mr John Hogg TD
SECRETARY
Mr W. J. Chalmers CBE (Director-General)
ADVISER
Mr H. D. Morgan MSc MICE (Consulting Engineer)
Also in attendance:
Mr W. Wynne Mason MC ((Assistant Secretary) Director of External Relations and Records)
Major-General J. F. D. Steedman CBE MC (Director of Works)
Mr H. L. Simmons LLB (Legal Adviser and Solicitor)
Mr W. F. W. Harding CBE BSc (Chief Horticultural Officer)
Mr P. J. Cook |