Malta wants to move war graves to one cemetery

Press, 30 May 1981, Page 21

Malta wants to move war graves to one cemetery

NZPA London The Commonwealth War Graves Commission still hopes to reach agreement with the Maltese Government on preserving cemeteries on the island containing New Zealand war dead, according to the director of the commission's information services, Mr Gordon Cheater. The Maltese Government wants to remove . all the remains in three cemeteries and concentrate all the war dead in a fourth cemetery.

It says it wants the land for building sites, but the commission says that so far no overriding and urgent public need has been demonstrated. Mr Cheater said there were almost 10,000 burials of British and other servicemen and their dependants, mainly in four military cemeteries on the island. Included were 3200 burials of servicemen and servicewomen from the Commonwealth and a number of other countries who lost their lives in the two world wars, he said.

They included 202 Australians and 79 New Zealanders, as well as memorials to another 206 Australians and 85 New Zealanders whose bodies were never found. ‘ “The care and maintenance of these cemeteries is the responsibility of the commission, and the terms for carrying out this responsibility were agreed in an exchange of letters between the commission and the Government of Malta in 1978,” said Mr Cheater.

“In early 1979, at the time of the withdrawal of the British forces from Malta and the handing over of naval and military. installations.'on ’.the island, the Malta ■Government made respresen-.

tations about the possibility of removing the graves of servicemen and their dependants from three of the four military cemeteries and regrouping them all in the fourth.

“After consultation with the commission's member governments and a number of foreign governments which have service burials in these cemeteries, the Maltese Government was formally notified in February, 1980. that the commission would be prepared to move the burials from the military cemeteries only if it could be shown (which has not so far been done) that there was such an overriding and urgent public need for

the land to be used for other essential proposes as to justify disturbance of the graves, and provided the Maltese Government made adequate suitable land available elsewhere for the proper reburial of the re- ' mains and agreed to bear the heavy costs of such an undertaking," he said. “The world-wide task of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is founded upon principles which remain unaltered — that each of the dead of the Commonwealth should be commemorated individually by name on headstone or memorial, and that the headstones and memorials should be permanent and that only in circumstances of overrid-

ing public necessity should graves be disturbed’ “In response to a further request by the Maltese Government in Janury. 1981. the commission again explained its obligation under these principles.

"There has been no further approach by the Maltese Government since then,” said Mr Cheater.

“Since the beginning ol these negotiations, the commission. to avoid distress tc the relatives of the dead, decided against giving this highly emotive subject any publicity and still hopes that agreement may be reached with the Maltese Government on the preservation ol these military cemeteries.”