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ARMY COMMEMORATIVE WINDOWS FOR NEW ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL
All serving and ormer members of the New Zealand Army are being offered a chance to contribute towards placing two commemorative stained glass windows in the new St. Paul’s Cathedral in Wellington as a national memorial to the Army and to one of its most distinguished leaders, the late Lord Freyberg.
The appeal which has the support of senior Army officers of both the Regular and Territorial Forces, and of the R.S.A., will be made directly to all Army ex-servicemen’s regimental and corps associations and to Regular and Territorial Force units. A preliminary meeting of Association representatives, including the South African and Gallipoli Veterans Associations has already been held at Army Headquarters, and an immediate response was made towards the contribution of £2400 required for the double windows. Full support was pledged for the scheme.
Because of the national character of the new Cathedral, the Anglican authorities have reserved certain windows for which it is hoped national organisations will provide the stained glass. Three double windows have been set aside in this way and the Royal New Zealand Air Force has already agreed to provide one pair.
The design (shown here), of which the outline has been generally approved by the Bishop of Wellington, the Right Reverend H. W. Baines, shows one window containing as a main theme the New Zealand Coat of Arms supported by the New Zealand Army Crest, and the other window containing Lord Freyberg’s Coat of Arms supported by the badge of the Expeditionary Force. The design will include small-scale reproductions of the badges of corps and units in the Army and of the crests of the ex-Service organisations.
The Chief of the General Staff, Major-General L. W. Thornton said, in announcing the appeal:
“I feel sure that all soldiers, past and present, Regular, Territorial, Expeditionary Force and Home Service, will welcome the opportunity to contribute to this memorial, and that it will also be supported by the general public. It will serve to give expression to the pride which each member feels in the traditions of the Army, now more than a century old. In addition, it will give an opportunity, which many have sought, to pay tribute to the memory of a fine man and a distinguished leader. This will be a national memorial, not only to Lord Freyberg, but to all the men and women who have served in the New Zealand Army throughout our history.”
A special committee including the Chief of the General Staff, the Adjutant-General and the Dominion President of the R.S.A., has been set up to direct the appeal, and to determine the disposal of any over-subscribed funds. These are to be used for other memorial purposes at the discretion of the Committee. Ex-Servicemen’s associations are being appealed to directly but members of the public wishing to make a personal contribution to the Army Memorial Windows Fund are asked to do so directly to Chaplain D. C. G. Cameron, Army Headquarters, Private Bag, Wellington. (Army Information Service, November 13, 1963)
MEASUREMENTS OF ARMY MEMORIAL WINDOWS
Each window will be 25 ft. high and 3 ft. wide. The distance from the floor to the bottom of the windows will be 27 ft. The designer will be Mr. Brian Thomas, of Britain, who has designed the windows for the new St. Paul’s Cathedral, London.
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