| Content Note | Topics covered:
The Chairman welcomed Mr W. Scholtz who was attending a meeting of the Commission for the first time, in place of Mr Grobbelaar who was away on leave; Announcement that His Excellency Lieutenant-General Mohammad Yousuf had succeeded Mr Salman Ali as Pakistan's High Commissioner; Announcement that the Honourable Peter Howson MP the Minister of the newly formed Australian Department for the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts had been appointed to be the Anzac Agency for the Pacific Region of the Commission.
Matters Arising from the Minutes of the 506th Meeting of the Commission
Including an update on the New Head Office at Maidenhead and Overseas Reorganisation.
Estimates 1972/1973
Approval of the Revised Estimate of Expenditure for the year 1971/72 at £2,799,510, and of the Estimate of Expenditure for the year 1972/73 at £2,896,065.
Adoption of the Report of the 548th Meeting of the Finance Committee
Including updates on increases proposed in Public Service Pensions, the Maintenance of stonework, and confirmation of the appointment of Mr P.R. Matthew as Legal Advisor and Solicitor to succeed Mr Simmons on retirement.
Commonwealth-Foreign Joint Committees: Appointment of Members.
Commonwealth-Belgian Joint Committee:
Monsieur H. Michiels (Ministere des Finances)
Major P.M. Goemanne (Service de l'Armee)
His Excellency Mr Theodore Hewitson (South African Ambassador, Brussels)
Commonwealth-French Joint Committee:
Monsieur Jacques Le Meignen (Ministere des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre)
Commonwealth-German-French Joint Committee:
Major-General Amreek Singh (Military Adviser, Indian High Commission, London)
Commonwealth-Netherlands Joint Committee:
Dr E.O. Baron van Boetzelaer (President, Netherlands War Graves Foundation)
Commonwealth-Thai Joint Committee:
Mr B.G. Smallman (British Embassy, Bangkok)
Graves Not Within The Commission’s Control – United Kingdom
Approval of the classification as not within the Commission's control of the 121 war graves enumerated in Supplementary List No 2 of war graves in the United Kingdom recommended for classification as "not within the Commission's control'', submitted by the Secretary and signed by him on each page for identification.
Unmaintainable Graves, United Kingdom: Kensal Green (St. Mary’s) Roman Catholic Cemetery, London
Approval of the proposal to Commemorate one Commonwealth War burial of the 1939-1945 War in Kensal Green (St Mary's) Roman Catholic Cemetery, Hammersmith, London on a Screen Wall in the cemetery.
Approval and confirmation of the action for the execution by the Commission or on its behalf of the documents, Serial Nos Part I 429 to 432 and Part 11 74 & 75, referred to in the Schedule laid before the Meeting and signed for identification by the Commission's Legal Adviser and Solicitor.
Report of the success of the Fifth Meeting of the Commonwealth-French Joint Committee.
Reports from Regions, Areas and Agencies: Quarter Ended 30 September 1971
Including a report from Mr Wallace on his visit to France and Belgium.
Report from Mr Gardner on his visit to Holland, Germany and Belgium
Mentions how on his way to other business in the Far East, he had stopped in Athens to visit the cemetery at Old Phaleron, which had been in admirable order, whereas the Victoria Memorial on Mahe Island in the Seychelles was in need of some maintenance work.
Report from Mr Wylie and Lord Holford on a visit to cemeteries in Italy.
Includes comments that many of the sites were being visited by a number of Italians, particularly those of the younger generations and also remarks on issues with access, parking and horticultural maintenance at Naples, as well as results of new type of wash on headstones.
General Notes
Including a short report on the Queen's visit with the Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Anne to Gallipoli, where Mr Sayali and Mr Demirel of the locally-engaged staff had been awarded the Silver Medal of the Royal Victorian Order, and that other members of the staff had been presented. Report from Mr Pritchard on visits to cemeteries and memorials in the Far East and Iran. Note from the Chairman that Mr Richard Wood, Minister for Overseas Development had visited Sfax War Cemetery in Tunisia, and Heliopolis War Cemetery. Note from the Secretary that General Thomas had visited a lot of isolated war grave sites in Norway, and also Rome War Cemetery, where he and the Secretary had inspected the cemetery together; Note from the Chairman that he hoped Members had heard Mr Wynford Vaughan Thomas's excellent talk about the Commission's work which had been broadcast on BBC Radio just before the Remembrance Day Service at the Cenotaph; Note from the Secretary that the target date for the meeting of the Italian Joint Committee in London was 16 May.
Other Business
Including a note from the Secretary that Solicitors acting for the Executors of Mrs Elizabeth Flanagan had informed the Commission that she had left a legacy to the Commission in her will in memory of her late husband who was buried at Villers Pol Communal Cemetery Extension in France; Report that at Southampton Crematorium where the Commission had a Memorial in the Garden of Rest, a motorway extension was about to encroach upon that area and the municipal authorities were obliged to re-site the whole Garden and the Commission Memorial; Report on steps taken to deal with vandalism especially of the bronze used on the Crosses of Sacrifice.
Note of the date of the next Meeting of the Commission on 16 March.
ATTENDEES:
Air Chief Marshal Sir Walter Cheshire GBE KCB (Vice-Chairman of the Commission) in the Chair
Colonel C.F. Black CD (Representing the High Commissioner for Canada)
Colonel A.D. Watt OBE (Representing the High Commissioner for Australia)
Mr E. Farnon (Representing the High Commissioner for New Zealand)
Mr W. Scholtz (Representing the Ambassador of South Africa)
Lieutenant-Colonel J. Sikund (Representing the High Commissioner for India)
Mr J.W.T. Pritchard (Representing the Minister for Housing and Construction)
Sir Robert Black GCMG OBE
Mr Verner Wylie
Miss Joan Woodgate CBE RRC
Sir John Winnifrith KCB
Admiral Sir Frank Twiss KCB DSC
Mr Edward Gardner QC MP
Mr G.D. Wallace MP
SECRETARY:
Mr W.J. Chalmers CBE (Director-General)
ADVISERS:
Professor Lord Holford RA FRIBA MTPI DLitt (Honorary Artistic Adviser)
Mr Peter A. Scott BSc FICE (Honorary Consulting Engineer)
Sir George Taylor DSc FRS FRSE FLS VMH (Honorary Botanical Adviser)
There were also present:
Mr P.H.M. Swan (Assistant Secretary, Director of External Relations & Records)
Mr A.K. Pallot CMG (Assistant Secretary, Director of Finance & Establishments)
Mr W.H. Dukes (Director of Works)
Mr H.L. Simmons LL D (Legal Adviser & Solicitor)
Mr W.F.W. Harding OBE BSc (Hort) FLS (Chief Horticultural Officer)
Mr A.S. Laing MVO (Deputy Establishment Officer)
Mr M.J.W. Taylor FCA (Chief Accountant)
Mr W.F. Cole MBE (Chief Records Officer)
Mr R.J. Dalley |