| Content Note | Topics covered:
Matters arising from the Minutes of the 461st Meeting
Discussion concerning the protection of the Ottawa Memorial, which had been subjected to an act of vandalism at an earlier date; report on the inspection of the Thiepval Memorial by a brick expert of the Building Research Station; request for the agreement of the Governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan and South Africa in regards to the percentages of contributions to the Commission; publication of articles in The Times, The Daily Telegraph and provincial newspapers regarding the maintenance of Rupert Brooke’s grave.
Visit by Mr David Griffiths to Berlin War Cemetery
Account of visit by Mr David Griffiths, MP, to Berlin War Cemetery whilst in Berlin with a Parliamentary Delegation.
Tour by Air Marshal Sir Charles Guest in South Western Area, UK Region
Details of Air Marshal Sir Charles Guest’s tour of war graves in Shropshire, Flintshire, Dengihshire and Caernarvonshire, and visit by Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore to Little Rissington (St. Peter) Churchyard.
Visit by Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore to Little Rissington (St Peter) Churchyard, Gloucestershire
Account of tour by the Secretary in the Northern Region, which included visits to Germany, Holland and Belgium.
Report of the 503rd Meeting of the Finance Committee
Authorisation for Vice-Chairman to approve expenditure on items typically submitted to the Finance Committee; expenditure involved with purchase of No. 13 Grosvenor Gardens; details of structural maintenance at the Vis-en-Artois Memorial; authorisation for the introduction of revised rates of pay for all United Kingdom based mon-manual staff in grades up to and including Chief Executive Officer; details of the construction of the new Commonwealth plot at Kviberg Cemetery.
Anzac Agency for the Pacific Region – Instrument of Agency
Revised arrangements concerning the constitution of the Anzac Agency of the Commission’s Pacific Region, including omission of provisions that the post of Assistant Secretary should be filled by candidates nominated by the Government of New Zealand; draft texts of the new Instrument of Agency and the Exchange of Letters.
Commonwealth-Foreign Joint Committee
Appointment of Mr P. K. Guha, First Secretary, Indian Embassy, Tokyo, as Commonwealth Member and Mr Toshio Yamakazi, Chief, British Commonwealth Section of the European Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Foreign Office, and Mr Takeshi Fukuma, Financial Counsellor Japanese Ministry of Finance, as Japanese Members of the Commonwealth-Japanese Joint Committee.
Marking and maintenance of Commonwealth war graves in the United Kingdom
Report concerning the marking and maintenance of Commonwealth war graves in the United Kingdom with specific reference to private graves, the commemoration of graves not within the Commission’s control, the removal of Commission headstones marking poorly maintained graves, arrangements with cemetery authorities to obtain control of the maintenance of war graves, and the alternative commemoration of graves classified as unmaintainable.
Tehran War Cemetery, Iran - Lease Agreement
Authorisation for Edgar Allan Griffin, Regional Director, Southern Region, to sign the Lease Agreement for the plot of land that was to become Tehran War Cemetery.
Billing Road Cemetery, Northampton and other Cemeteries at Northampton
Agreement regarding the inclusion of a clause within a Bill proposed by the Northampton Corporation for the protection of the Commission’s interests in Billing Road Cemetery and other cemeteries at Northampton.
3rd Meeting of the Commonwealth-Italian Joint Committee
Report on the 3rd Meeting of the Commonwealth-Italian Joint Committee, which included discussions about the protection of cemeteries in Italy.
General Notes
Details about two ceremonies at Brookwood Military Cemetery during visit by the Belgian Ambassador in London; recount of ceremonies held in Normandy on the anniversary of D Day and at cemeteries in the Netherlands on the anniversary of the liberation.
Annual Reunion and Flower Show - Northern Region
Details of the Annual Reunion and Flower Show at Ypres, which had been attended by the Chairman and Lady Crocker.
ATTENDEES:
General Sir John Crocker GCB KBE DSO MC (Vice-Chairman of the Commission)
Mr P. A. K. Manton (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 South Africa)
Major S. P. Barua (Representing the High Commissioner for India)
Mr D. K. Malone MBE (Representing the Secretary of State for the Colonies)
Mr J. W. T. Pritchard (Representing the Minister of Public Buildings and Works)
Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore GCB DSO
The Rt. Hon. Lord Spens KBE
Admiral John Edelsten GCB GCVO CBE
Mr John Hogg TD
Mr David Griffiths MP
SECRETARY
Mr W. J. Chalmers CBE (Director-General)
Also in attendance:
Mr W. Wynne Mason MC ((Assistant Secretary) Director of External Relations and Records)
Mr A. K. Pallot ((Assistant Secretary) Director of Finance and Establishments)
Mr H. L. Simmons LLB (Legal Adviser and Solicitor)
Mr D. H. Lloyd ARICS (Deputy Director of Works)
Mr P. J. Cook |