Record

Unique IDCWGC/2/2/1/475
File NumberCM 3/1/143
TitleCOMMISSION MEETING NO.475 - June 1964
Multimedia

d5\2327e7-3820-47fb-b6c4-cd9bad7027cc.pdf

DescriptionMinutes of the 475th Meeting of the Commission
Content NoteTopics covered:

The deaths of Mr Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India, and Colonel Sir Eric Gore Browne, former Chairman of Glyn, Mills & Company and Trustee of the Imperial War Graves Endowment Fund, were reported.

Matters Arising from the 474th Meeting of the Commission
Report on Mr W. Wynne Mason’s visit to Addis Ababa for the purpose of completing a Commonwealth-Ethiopian War Graves Agreement.

Report of the 517th Meeting of the Finance Committee
Appointment of 20 staff members to the Permanent Maintenance Staff; expenditure on repairs to the approach road to Brookwood Military Cemetery and Memorial, and structural maintenance at Durnbach War Cemetery, which included modifications to the stonework of two piers; expenditure for the drilling of a well as the first phase of a water supply scheme at Agira Canadian War Cemetery; additional expenditure on structural maintenance at Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery and a new water supply scheme to cope with successive instances of flooding; expenditure on structural maintenance at Moascar War Cemetery, including the removal of kerbing and building of the cemetery’s surroundings; expenditure for the replacement of fencing at Benghazi War Cemetery, Knightsbridge (Acroma) War Cemetery, Tobruk War Cemetery, Halfaya Sollum War Cemetery and El Alamein War Cemetery; arrangements for the provision of caretakers’ and gardeners’ quarters at various cemeteries, including Kirkee War Cemetery; appointment of Mr Morgan as Senior Legal Assistant, Mr Gladwin as Area Works Officer and four other members of staff.

Commonwealth-Foreign Joint Committees
Appointment of Mr Jules Leger, Canadian Ambassador in Paris, as Commonwealth Honorary Member of the Commonwealth-French Joint Committee; appointment of Minister Plenipotentiary Giulio Pascucci Righi, Deputy Director-General of Political Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as Italian Official Member of the Commonwealth-Italian Joint Committee; appointment of Dr Jan Herman van Roijen, Netherlands Ambassador in London, as Netherlands Honorary Member of the Commonwealth-Netherlands Joint Committee.

Signposting of Commonwealth War Cemeteries
Details concerning the design of the new roadside direction signs identifying the location of Commonwealth war cemeteries and memorials, which was to include the name of the cemetery or memorial written in the local language and English, a standard direction sign that would be preceded by an advanced direction sign in some instances, and route confirmatory signs; authorisation for the Finance Committee to consider and accept tenders for the provision of these signs.

Unmaintainable graves in the United Kingdom: Bolsover (St. Mary) Old Churchyard
Approval for the proposed exhumation and reinterment of one First World War grave in Bolsover (St. Mary) Old Churchyard.

Unmaintainable graves in the United Kingdom: Kilkenny New Cemetery
Approval of the proposed commemoration of two Commonwealth war burials in Kilkenny New Cemetery by the erection of two memorial headstones in Grangegorman Military Cemetery.

Execution of Documents by the Commission or on its Behalf
Details concerning the transfer of four Netherlands war graves, which the Commission held the burials rights for, to Mill Hill Cemetery.

Supplemental Charter
Approval of the new Supplemental Charter by the Queen-in-Council on 26th March 1964; details concerning the United Kingdom Defence (Transfer of Functions) Act, 1964, which transferred the functions of the Secretary of State for War to the Secretary of State for Defence, and resulted in the appointment of the Secretary of State for Defence as Chairman of the Commission.

Report regarding the inclusion of clauses notifying the Commission of any proposals affecting burial grounds containing Commonwealth war graves or removal of Commission headstones within Parliamentary Bills promoted by the Cumberland County Council, the Bedford Corporation, the Newcastle-under-Lyme Corporation, the Preston Corporation and the West Riding County Council.

3rd Meeting of the Commonwealth-German-French Joint Committee
Report on the 3rd Meeting of the Commonwealth-German-French Joint Committee held in London on 22nd April 1964.

Reports from United Kingdom, Northern, Southern and Eastern Regions, Canadian Agency and Anzac Agency for the Pacific Region for the Quarter Ended 31st March 1964
Account of visit by the Chairman to Plymouth Naval Memorial and cemeteries containing Commission plots in the neighbouring area, and a privately owned cemetery at Pennycomequick; discussion regarding vandalism at the Portsmouth Naval Memorial and Chatham Naval Memorial, and the destruction of trees by Syrex wasps at Yokohama War Cemetery; details of the renovation of the doors at the entrance to the cloisters at the Runnymede Memorial.

General Notes
Account of the Chairman’s visit to Royal Naval and other cemeteries in Kent and East Anglia, the Lowestoft Royal Naval Patrol Service Memorial and 12 other cemeteries, including Shorncliffe Military Cemetery and Canterbury City Cemetery; details of the Anzac Day Service in Westminster Abbey and Annual Act of Commemoration at the Runnymede Memorial during which Mr Chevrier, the High Commissioner for Canada, had laid a wreath; report on ceremonies held in Normandy in June 1964, including those at Douvres-La-Delivrande War Cemetery and Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, and those at the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial and Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery; details of the Chairman’s private visit to Belgium and Holland, which included visits to Oostend New Communal Cemetery and Amsterdam New Eastern Cemetery; account of the Director-General’s visit to the Caen and Albert Areas and the Chief Horticultural Officer’s visit to the Albert and Belgium Areas; report on Mr W. Wynne Mason’s, Director of External Relations, visit to Algeria, Libya and Athens to negotiate war graves agreement with the Libyan, Algerian and Athens Governments; account of Mr W. F. W. Harding’s, Chief Horticultural Officer, tour to Greece and Turkey, which included visits to all of the First World War Cemeteries in Salonika and Gallipoli and Phaleron War Cemetery, with details of the horticultural preparations that had been carried out in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings; details of the rededication of the Wellington Provincial Memorial, which included the unveiling of two extra panels.

Other Business
Summary and update of the developments concerning the proposed removal of Alexandria (Hadra) War Cemetery, including the estimated cost to relocate all war burials to El Alamein and the Commission’s efforts to prevent this from occurring; report on the Southern Region by Colonel E. A. Griffin, Regional Director of the Southern Region, which included information about the geography, number of graves and memorials located within the region, and division of administration for all Areas within the region, the political factors affecting the Commission’s work in Algeria, Congo and Iraq, construction work at Damascus War Cemetery, Lubudi African Cemetery, Mosul War Cemetery, Khanaqin War Cemetery and Kaduna War Cemetery, the inability for the Commission to regain access of Jerusalem War Cemetery, and the horticultural rehabilitation of the Gallipoli Peninsula; account of the unveiling of the Chittagong Memorial by General Mohammed Azan Khan, Governor of East Pakistan.

ATTENDEES:
Admiral Sir Guy Grantham GCB CBE DSO (Vice-Chairman of the Commission)
Colonel Alan Chambers DSO OBE (Representing the High Commissioner for Canada)
Mr M. J. C. Templeton (Representing the High Commissioner for New Zealand)
Major K. J. Elias (Representing the High Commissioner for Pakistan)
Mr J. H. H. Vaughan (Representing the Secretary of State for the Colonies)
Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore GCB DSO
The Right Honourable Lord Spens KBE
Sir Arthur Rucker KCMG CB CBE
Air Marshal Sir Charles Guest KBE CB
Lieutenant-General Sir John Anderson KCB 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)
Brigadier K. F. Daniell CBE (Director of Works)
Mr H. L. Simmons LLB (Legal Adviser and Solicitor)
Mr W. F. W. Harding OBE BSc (Hort.) (Chief Horticultural Officer)
Colonel E. A. Griffin OBE ED (Regional Director, Southern Region)
Mr W. H. Dukes
Mr T. A. E. Gibson
Date18/06/1964
Extent1 file
CollectionArchive
CategoryMeeting Notes
ArchNotePlease note that the downloadable document is the final version of the Committee Meeting minutes. Additional information, including the verbatim minutes and subsidiary reports, may be available in the physical file.
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