§ Mr. Masonasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will now report on the War Graves Commission's visit to the Falkland Islands, indicating what developments it has in mind for the official Blue Beach war graves cemetery; what will be the type of its permanent construction; whether it is intended that all those Service men who lost their lives in the Falklands conflict will have their names inscribed on a suitable surrounding wall; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WigginThe design of the cemetery, which is to be called the San Carlos cemetery, has now been approved by my Department. It will contain 14 of the graves of those members of the Armed Forces whose next of kin decided102W that they should be given permanent burial in the Falkland Islands. It will be bounded by a roughly circular stone wall, and will be approximately 95 ft. wide, and 80 ft. long. The rear section of the wall will form the memorial, bearing the names of the 174 men who lost their lives and who have no marked graves. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission expects to have the cemetery and memorial established by next April. There is to be a second memorial in the United Kingdom, at a site yet to be determined, which will bear the names of all 255 men who lost their lives in the conflict.
§ Mr. Masonasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what steps the War Graves Commission is taking in cooperation with the International Red Cross to exhume the Argentine dead in the many locations of the Falkland Islands and placing them in proper cemetries built to War Graves Commission standards; and if he will make a statement;
(2) whether the War Graves Commission or any other organisation has made an assessment of the health hazards of the numerous Argentine bodies lying in the 27 different locations in the Falklands; and whether any special precautions have to be taken until proper burials have taken place.
§ Mr. WigginSome Argentine dead were buried by Argentine forces; others were buried by our own forces in accordance with the Geneva conventions. Identification has been carried out wherever possible, and the detail and location of all graves has been passed to the International Red Cross. There have been some reburials for health and other reasons. The Argentine Government have been asked whether they wish the bodies to be returned to Argentina, but no positive answer has been received. Plans are now being drawn up, based on a survey conducted by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, for the bodies to be moved as soon as possible to cemeteries in the Falkland Islands, where graves will be maintained to a proper standard. In the meantime the present temporary graves will be looked after to the best of our ability, but access to some of the graves is restricted by hazards presented by minefields.