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from
Daily Mirror Saturday 11 November 2000
REMEMBERED - WAR GRAVES VICTORY
BRITAIN
remembered those who lovingly tend the graves of its fallen heroes
yesterday.
The Mirror led
nationwide protests when it was disclosed that our war grave gardeners
abroad faced savage allowance cuts of up to pounds 7,500 a year.
Now authorities have
come to their senses and guaranteed that the 77 men will suffer no fall in
living standards even though their conditions are still being reviewed.
None will be made
redundant and there is a pledge to continue to employ UK-based staff abroad.
Overjoyed Terry
Smithies, who looks after the pristine cemeteries in northern France, said:
"We're all absolutely delighted.
"It's been a
tough few months. Now our income is safe and a weight is lifted from our
shoulders.
"I'm also
pleased the number of British workers in cemeteries abroad is going to be
maintained. It means we can keep the graves looking as immaculate as ever.
"I'll have a few
beers to toast The Mirror for backing us."
News of the climbdown
came in a letter from the new head of the British War Graves Commission,
Richard Kellaway, to the Transport Union which supported the gardeners.
Mr Kellaway said:
"The changes will be put on hold until the review has been considered.
"In the
meantime, our staff will continue to receive the current pay and allowances
package.
"My aim is to
ensure that the gardeners suffer no drop in living standards.
"The Commission
remains unchanged in its determination to continue maintaining our graves
and memorials throughout the world to the highest standard."
Chris Kaufman, of the
TGWU, said he and Mr Kellaway had held "tough but constructive
discussions".
Speaking on the eve
of Remembrance Day, he said: "I'm convinced the Commission is committed
to maintaining UK gardeners overseas and keeping up their living standards.
"We say thank
you to The Mirror. I also want to pay tribute to the thousands of old
soldiers, their families and the British Legion who closed ranks behind the
TGWU in defending the war graves gardeners."
Most of the gardeners
are based in Northern Europe where hundreds of thousands died in two world
wars.
They earn between
pounds 10,500 to pounds 13,500 a year but also receive top up allowances for
working abroad.
Until yesterday, many
- especially those with families - feared they would have to quit because
they could not survive on the proposed lower pay. They were also worried
that the high standards of upkeep of the headstones and flowerbeds would
suffer.
The Mirror first
highlighted their plight four months ago
Together with unions,
we kept up pressure on the Commission and the Ministry of Defence.
The MoD's
contributions make up about 70 per cent of the Commission's pounds 33million
a year budget.
We revealed how the
ministry was sitting on a surplus underspend of pounds 300million. The
shameful allowance cuts would have saved just pounds 400,000.
Celebrities including
actor Michael Palin and former cricketer Ian Botham backed our cause.
Eventually, an
independent inquiry chaired by former union boss Brenda Dean was set up to
investigate the issue. It has still to report.
One option it is
considering is to raise salaries while cutting allowances.
As news of the
victory was announced it was disclosed that the First World War killing
fields of Flanders have become the hunting grounds of "battlefield
scavengers."
Belgian ghouls,
posing as collectors of militaria, are digging up the rotted remains of
soldiers and looting their bodies.
They are even
licensed to conduct their sick trade by the Belgian Institute of
Archaeologists.
Belgian officials
believe the diggers are handing over bodies complete with any personal items
that may help to identify them.
But an ITV
documentary to be screened tomorrow reveals the bodies are stripped and the
booty spirited away to private collections or to be sold at collectors'
fairs.
Old soldier Albert
"Smiler" Marshall, a 102-year-old veteran of the Essex Yeomanry,
said: "You can't say anything bad enough about them, can you?"
Producer Paul Tyson
told The Mirror: "What we saw was sacrilege."
FORTY five million
people are expected to pause for the two-minute silence at 11am today in
memory of the dead of two world wars.
Two thousand children
will observe the silence at the Millennium Dome at the British Legion's
Circle of Remembrance.
Veteran singer Max
Bygraves, 78, will lead a group of up to 50 wartime performers on the parade
to the Cenotaph, in Whitehall.
The families of
British soldiers shot for alleged desertion in the First World War are also
to march for the first time.
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