Content Note | Topics covered:
Announcement that Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore was elected to the Chair owing to the absence of the Vice-Chairman.
The deaths of Sir Edward Peacock, one of the original and former Chairman of the Trustees of the Imperial War Graves Endowment Fund, and Lady Dunbar-Smith, wife of former Commission Vice-Chairman Admiral Sir Martin Dunbar-Nasmith, were reported.
Matters arising from the Minutes of the 464th Meeting Further request from the Chairman for replies from certain participating governments regarding the percentages of contributions and future financial arrangements; announcement regarding the publication of the 43rd Annual Report; details of the showing of the Commission’s film at The Hague, Netherlands; account of the Annual Gardeners’ Service in Westminster Abbey; distribution of the text of the Remembrance Sunday broadcast.
Details of references to the Commission during a debate on the Annual Estimates in the Australian Senate.
Distribution of photographs taken of Sola Churchyard, Norway, among Commission members.
Account of tours abroad by Head Office officials, which included visits by the Secretary to the North-West Africa and Italy Areas; the Director of Finance and Establishments to Italy, France and Belgium; the Director of Works in Albert Area of the Northern Region; and the Chief Horticultural Officer to Iraq, Egypt, Greece and Israel.
Details of the tour by the Director-General in the Southern Region, which included visits to cemeteries at Tripoli, Tunisia and Southern Italy.
Account of tour by the Chief Horticultural Officer to Iraq, United Arab Republic, Greece and Israel with specific reference to the construction and rehabilitation of cemeteries in Iraq and condition of cemeteries in Egypt and Israel.
Report of the 507th Meeting of the Finance Committee Announcement regarding seven appointments to the Permanent Maintenance Staff; expenditure for the removal of war graves from Charleville Communal Cemetery to Terlincthun British Cemetery; expenditure for the supply and shipment of two Stones of Remembrance and two Crosses of Sacrifice to Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery, Basra War Cemetery and Mosul War Cemetery; expenditure on the construction at Damascus War Cemetery; expenditure for the printing and publishing of Cemetery and Memorial Registers of the Second World War; appointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Woodgate to succeed Brigadier Agnew as Regional Director of the United Kingdom Region; arrangements for canteen services with the National Coal Board at Hobart House.
Commonwealth-Foreign Joint Committees Appointment of Mr A. T. Stirling, Australian Ambassador at Rome, as Commonwealth Honorary Member of the Commonwealth-Italian Joint Committee; appointment of Monsieur Roland Jacquin de Margerie, French Ambassador at Bonn, as French Honorary Member of the Commonwealth-German-French Joint Committee.
Baghdad (North Gate) Cemetery, Iraq, Southern Region Approval of the proposed alterations to the design of Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery, which included the repositioning of the entrance and replacement of the Stone of Remembrance and Cross of Sacrifice.
Weston Mill Cemetery, Plymouth, Devonshire Acquisition from the City of Plymouth by the Commission of the exclusive right of burial and right to erect two Commission headstones in commemoration of two war burials in Stoke Damerel Church Cemetery.
Fund for the Care and Maintenance of the Graves of the Fallen Discussion regarding the investment of the Fund for the Care and Maintenance of the Graves of the Fallen, where legacies, bequests and private donations received by the Commission were placed.
Reports from the United Kingdom, Southern and Eastern Regions, Canadian Agency and Anzac for the Pacific Region for the Quarter ended 30th September 1962 Update on the progress of construction at Jakarta War Cemetery.
General Notes Report on theft of the specially designed key with which The Queen had opened the Runnymede Memorial at the unveiling ceremony and the Visitors’ Book; details of the annual ceremony at El Alamein War Cemetery and Memorial arranged by the Commonwealth Diplomatic Mission at Cairo on the anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein; recount of visit by Mr Jermyn, representative of the High Commissioner for South Africa, and the Australian Consul at The Hague to Arnhem (Ooesterbeek) War Cemetery; account of Remembrance Day Ceremony in Khartoum War Cemetery;
Bronze plaque in memory of Sir Frank and Lady Higginson Approval of the proposed erection of a bronze plaque in memory of Sir Frank and Lady Higginson in the entrance building at Cabaret Rouge War Cemetery, France.
ATTENDEES: Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore GCB DSO (In the Chair) Mr H. F. Clark (Representing the High Commissioner for Canada) 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) Major Malik Mohammed Bashir (Representing the High Commissioner for Pakistan) Mr J. W. T. Pritchard (Representing the Minister of Public Buildings and Works) The Rt. Hon. Lord Spens KBE Sir Arthur Rucker KCMG CB CBE Mr John Hogg TD Mr David Griffiths MP Admiral Sir Guy Grantham GCB CBE DSO
SECRETARY Mr W. J. Chalmers CBE (Director-General)
ADVISER Sir Edward Maufe RA FRIBA (Chief Architect and Artistic Adviser) Mr H. D. Morgan MSc (Eng.) MICE (Consulting Engineer)
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) 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 OBE BSc (Hort.) (Chief Horticultural Officer) Brigadier D. R. Agnew CBE CD LLD (Regional Director, United Kingdom Region) Mr P. J. Cook Mr T. A. E. Gibson |