HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT, 1954
the work of botanists and plant explorers to China at the beginning of the century. Specimens and data are continually being added as areas in the remote parts of the colony are again surveyed botanically. Each year specimens are forwarded for identification by the police, the government chemist, research institutions, and by members of the public. In recent years the section has made many field excursions to acquire specimens of local plants for studies at the University and foreign institutions into the alkaloidal properties they are said to contain.
War Cemeteries
Since the re-occupation of the Colony in 1945, endeavours have been made to locate and identify the remains of personnel of all the armed services, including those of allied forces and other affiliated forces, who fell in the fighting for the defence of the Colony in 1941, or who later died in captivity. In 1948 the Imperial War Graves Commission assumed responsibility for completion of the work which included the planning and development of the war cemeteries. The Director of Urban Services has been appointed as agent for the Commission in Hong Kong.
The planning, of the war cemeteries and the design of the memorials is the work of the Commission's chief architect, Mr. C. St. Clair Oakes, M.B.E., F.R.I.B.A. All construction work has been in the hands of the Public Works Department and the horticultural develop- ment is progressing under the supervision of the Superintendent of Gardens.
124