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Birthday Honours List
Announcement that in the Birthday Honours List, Mr Peter McCarthy, Administrative Officer,
France Area, had been appointed MBE.
Mr J Le Meignen
Announcement that at the annual meeting of Interdepartmental Directors of the Secretariat d'Etat aux Anciens Combattants, which had been held in Arras in April, Director, France Area, had presented, on behalf of the Commission, an inscribed crystal goblet to, Monsieur Jacques Le Meignen on his retirement from the Secretariat and from membership of the Commonwealth-French Joint Committee; Announcement that Monsieur Le Meignen had been appointed Honorary CBE.
Mr D Bonikos, Mr C Carpentier, Mr I Gilliland, Mr D S Salman, Mr Talman, Mr G Vancomperolle
Announcement of the death in service of six of the Commission's staff: Messrs Demitrios Bonikos, a gardener in Greece, Claude Carpentier, a gardener in France, Ian Gilliland, a gardener/caretaker in Belgium, Daoud Said Salman, a gardener/craftsman in Iraq, 'Stan' Talman, Director, North Africa Area and Germain Vancompernolle, a fitter in Belgium.
Announcement of the death of Dottore Giovanni Di Mauro, Director of Domains, Italian Ministry of Finance, who had been a member of the Commonwealth-Italian Joint Committee since 1975.
Matters Arising from the Minutes of the 532nd Meeting
a) Update on the situation in Iraq.
b) Update on Historical Notices in Cemeteries.
c) Update on the production of the stainless-steel name panels for the Port Tewfik and Aden Memorials.
d) Update on maintenance of Cemeteries in Malta.
e) Update on the future of the war graves plot at Takoradi African Public Cemetery threatened by encroachment of roadworks.
f) Report of the success of the Commission Display Board for Australia House.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission Superannuation Scheme (1952)
Authorisation for the Trustees of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Superannuation Scheme (1952) to modify the Canada Pension Plan to take into account new provisions.
Authorisation for the Trustees of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Superannuation Scheme (1952) to approve for transfer purposes those pension schemes which are from time to time included in the list of schemes participating in the Public Sector Transfer Arrangements established by the Civil Service Department; Request to the Trustees of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission superannuation Scheme (1952) to admit the six remaining members of the Superannuation Scheme adopted by the Commission at its 90th Meeting on 14 July 1926 to membership of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Superannuation Scheme (1952) as from 6 April 1978; Authorisation and request to the Trustees of the Commonwealth War Graves
Commission Superannuation Scheme (1952) to make such modifications, alterations or additions to the Rules of the Scheme as may be necessary or expedient in order to provide for changes to the scheme involving reckonable service.
Admission of Members of the 1926 Superannuation Scheme to the Superannuation Scheme (1952)
Update on Admission of Members of the 1926 Superannuation Scheme to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Superannuation Scheme (1952).
Election of a member as a Trustee of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Superannuation Scheme (1952)
Update on the election of a member as a trustee of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Superannuation Scheme (1952).
Adoption of the Report of the 574th Meeting of the Finance Committee
Item 5 dealt with the extension of the current contract for the supply and transport of Botticino headstones.
Item 6 concerned a proposal to purchase video equipment.
Item dealt with the purchase of Michelin maps overprinted with the sites of the war cemeteries and memorials in France and Belgium for re-sale to the public.
Item 8 concerned a proposal for the purchase of additional printing equipment at Head Office to facilitate more in-house printing.
Item 9 sought approval for the application of pay increases of 9 per cent plus adjustments for non-manual staff in line with the recent award to the United Kingdom Civil Service.
Item 14 reported the appointment of Mr Pritchard as Director, North Africa Area in place of Mr Talman, who had died recently.
Membership of the Commission - Pakistan
Update on Pakistan's membership of the Commission.
The Lagos and Nigeria Memorials
Report of the Chairman's visit to Nigeria and an update on the Lagos and Nigeria Memorials, explaining how the bronze sculptures and panels had been incorporated into the new cenotaph complex.
Seventh Meeting of the Commonwealth-Netherlands Joint Committee
Report of the success of the Seventh Meeting of the Commonwealth-Netherlands Joint Committee.
Commonwealth-Foreign Joint Committees: Appointment of Members
Commonwealth-French Joint Committee:
Monsieur Jean-Paul Bourcheix (Directeur des Statuts et des Services Medicaux, Secretariat d'Etat aux Anciens Combattants)
Monsieur Pierre Richard (Directeur General des Collectivites Locales, Ministere de l'Interieur)
Commonwealth-Thai Joint Committee:
His Excellency Nai Charoensook Silabhundhu (Governor of Kanchanaburi)
Graves Not Within The Commission’s Control – United Kingdom
Approval of the classification as not within the Commission's control of the 88 war graves enumerated in Supplementary List No 15 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 – Old Cairo Jewish Cemetery, Egypt
Approval of the proposal to commemorate the two burials of the 1914-1918 War in Old Cairo Jewish Cemetery by the erection of two Special Memorials, suitably superscribed, in Cairo War Memorial Cemetery.
Unmaintainable Graves – Walthamstow (Queen’s Road) Cemetery
Approval of the proposal to commemorate five burials of the 1914-1918 War in Walthamstow (Queen's Road) Cemetery by the erection of a Special Memorial, suitably superscribed, in the same cemetery.
Unmaintainable Graves – Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (St Anthony) Churchyard
Approval of the proposal to commemorate three burials of the 1939-1945 War in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (St Anthony) Churchyard by the erection of a Special Memorial, suitably superscribed, in the same churchyard.
Execution Of Documents
Confirmation of the action for the execution by the Commission or on its behalf of the documents, Serial Nos Part I 546 and 547 and Part II 138 to 145, referred to in the Schedule laid before the Meeting and signed for identification by the Commission's Legal Adviser and Solicitor, with an update on the 1914-1918 War memorial at Nunhead (All Saints) Cemetery, Southwark.
Diary update
Note of the visit of the Commission's Chairman to Tehran War Cemetery and Memorial, and Mr Mulley's visit to Iran.
Report of the Chairman's visit to the West Midlands and Welsh border counties.
Report from Sir Robert Black on his tour to Belgium and Holland, and the condition of the cemeteries there, and a note that he had also made a special visit to see the graves of Wing Commander Guy Gibson and his navigator, Squadron Leader Warwick.
Presentation by Sir Robert Black of two books presented to him by the Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland, Mr Gardon Winter ('The Fighting Newfoundlanders' and 'More Fighting Newfoundlanders') for the Commission's library.
Report by Sir John Winnifrith on his visit, while on holiday, to the Athens office and Phaleron War Cemetery.
Report from the Secretary on his tour in eastern Europe, with particular note of his visit to the German Democratic Republic, and including updates on maintenance problems at War Cemeteries in East Berlin.
Update on the maintenance of the Commission's War Cemeteries and Polish Memorial sites in Poland, and the Prague War Cemetery in Czechoslovakia.
Reference to the report of the destruction of Commission headstones at Vendome Town Cemetery, where the 22 graves had, in fact, been marked by French iron crosses and the desecration had been widespread and not confined to the Commission graves as the report implied.
Attendees:
General Sir Noel Thomas KCB DSO MC (Vice-Chairman of the Commission) in the Chair
Sir Arthur Hockaday KCB CMG (Representing the Secretary of State for Defence)
Mr R.H. Noyes Roberts (Representing the High Commissioner for Canada)
Mr F.C. Murray (Representing the High Commissioner for Australia)
Mr L.J. Watt (Representing the High Commissioner for New Zealand)
Mr T.F. Wheeler (Representing the Ambassador of South Africa)
Mr P.C. Aggleton (Representing the Minister for Housing and Construction)
Sir Robert Black GCMG OBE
Miss Joan Woodgate CBE RRC
Sir John Winnifrith KCB
Admiral Sir Frank Twiss KCB KCVO DSC
Sir Edward Goschen Bt DSO
SECRETARY
Mr A.K. Pallot CMG (Director-General)
ADVISERS
Mr P.A. Scott BSc FICE (Honorary Consulting Engineer)
Professor P.F. Shepheard CBE BArch PPRIBA MRTPI PPILA (Honorary Artistic Adviser)
There were also present:
Mr A.S. Laing MVO (Assistant Secretary, Assistant Director-General (Secretariat))
Mr J. Saynor (Assistant Secretary, Assistant Director-General (Administration))
Mr P.R. Matthew BA (Assistant Secretary, Legal Adviser and Solicitor)
Mr W. H. Dukes OBE (Director of Works)
Mr W.F.W. Harding OBE BSc (Hort) FLS (Director of Horticulture)
Mr H. Westland MIPM (Establishment Officer)
Mr G. A Cheater (Director of Information Services)
Mr W.J. Symons (Administrator, Overseas Direct Administration)
Mr A.E.V. Shephard (Senior External Relations Officer)
Mr D.L. Ayers (Secretariat)
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