| Content Note | Topics covered:
The death of the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Harold Edward Holt, was reported.
Changes in Form of Agenda and Papers: announcement that there would be a reduction in the volume of paper for the Finance Committee and Commission Meetings.
Matters arising from the 489th Meetings of the Commission
Update on the situation in the Middle East, including the return to normal working conditions and inability for Commission staff to access cemeteries at Tel-el-Kebir; account of the Commission’s request for permission to enter Iraq; proposal concerning a Commonwealth-Greek War Graves Agreement; report concerning the proposed removal of Alexandria (Hadra) War Memorial Cemetery and Alexandria (Chatby) Military and War Memorial Cemetery, including request from the Governate of Alexandria for representatives of participating governments to inspect the site at El Alamein and the estimated costs of construction; account of the Secretary’s visit to East and South Africa to discuss the removal of Dar-es-Salaam (Ocean Road) Cemetery and proposal for the new site for the Mombasa African Memorial; publication of the 48th Annual Report and Accounts of the Commission; announcement that the Government of Tanzania had paid for the removal of the graves and memorials from Dar-es-Salaam (Ocean Road) Cemetery; discussion concerning the regroupment of war graves in Tamworth General Cemetery; comments concerning the execution of documents by the Commission or on its behalf; account of tours by Miss Joan Woodgate to the South Western Area, United Kingdom Region, and Mr David Griffiths to the Belgium, Netherlands and Germany Areas; proposed Exchange of Letters between the Commission and future Government of Aden to provide for the security and maintenance of Commonwealth war graves located in the colony.
Annual Estimates of Expenditure (F.2210)
Details about the memorandum of the Estimates with its accompanying Schedule I, which covered Staff Expenditure, Travelling Expenses, Administrative Expenses, Horticultural Maintenance, Structural Maintenance and Expenditure relating to the Commission’s Premises; information concerning the Revised Estimate for 1967/68 and Approved Estimate for 1968/69.
Report of the 531st Meeting of the Finance Committee
Recommended approval of expenditure on structural maintenance at the Thiepval Memorial, namely the replacement of bricks on the facing part of the memorial; details regarding the effects of devaluation on the Commission’s expenditure.
Commonwealth-Foreign Joint Committees
Appointment of Mr Merwyn Norrish, New Zealand Ambassador at Brussels, as Commonwealth Honorary Member of the Commonwealth-Belgian Joint Committee; appointment of Colonel S. A. Hasan, Pakistan High Commission in London, as Commonwealth Official Member of the Commonwealth-French Joint Committee; appointment of Counsellor Dr Horst Gellbach, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as German Official Member of the Commonwealth-German-French Joint Committee; appointment of His Excellency Mr T. J. Endemann, South African Ambassador at The Hague, as Netherlands Honorary Member, Mr Mumtaz Ali Alvie, Pakistan Ambassador at The Hague, as Commonwealth Honorary Member, and Mr J. L. Knott, Australian Deputy High Commissioner in London, and Miss Joan Woodgate, Commissioner, as Commonwealth Official Members of the Commonwealth-Netherlands Joint Committee.
Approval of the classification of the 1,005 war graves enumerated in List No. 13 of war graves in the United Kingdom recommended for classification as “not within the Commission’s control”.
Unmaintainable Graves: Aldringham (St. Andrew) Churchyard, Aldringham-Cum-Thorpe, Suffolk
Approval of the proposed commemoration of two Commonwealth war burials in Aldringham (St. Andrew) Churchyard on special memorial headstones, bearing suitable superscriptions, that were to be erected within the First World War plot in Ipswich Cemetery.
Report of the 4th Meeting of the Commonwealth-Italian Joint Committee, with specific reference to the question of protecting the surroundings of the Commission’s cemeteries in Italy and exemption of the Commission from taxation.
General Notes
Recount of Colonel Sir Richard Glyn’s visit to burial places in Devon, Dorset and Somerset; account of the unveiling ceremony for the Halifax Memorial with details of the completion of construction; announcement that Mr Nixon was the new Head of the Anzac Agency.
Other Business
Recount of a ceremony at Theberton commemorating 16 German airmen; announcement regarding the departure of Major-General I. C. Katoch as Military Adviser to the Indian High Commissioner; report concerning the difficulties faced by the Commission to protect the surroundings of war cemeteries and memorials in France; details of the message to the staff members for the Commission’s 50th Anniversary.
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 Paul Cotton (Representing the High Commissioner for New Zealand)
Mr D. S. Preller (Representing the Ambassador of South Africa)
Major B. N. Fatya Murti (Representing the High Commissioner for India)
Major Ahmad Shamim Khan (Representing the High Commissioner for Pakistan)
Mr J. W. T. Pritchard (Representing the Minister of Public Buildings and Works)
Sir Arthur Rucker KCMG CB CBE
Air Marshal Sir Charles Guest KBE CB
Mr David Griffiths MP
Sir Robert Black GCMG OBE
Mr Verner Wylie
Miss Joan Woodgate CBE RRC
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.) M Inst. CE (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 BA (Director of Works)
Mr H. L. Simmons LLB (Legal Adviser and Solicitor)
Mr W. F. W. Harding OBE BSc (Hort.) (Chief Horticultural Officer)
Mr A. E. V. Shephard |