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St Augustine's War Memorial Hall and Church Memorial Windows, Inverell

St Augustine's War Memorial Hall and Church Memorial Windows, Inverell
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St Augustine's War Memorial Hall, exterior
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St Augustine's War Memorial Hall, stone
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St Augustine's War Memorial Hall, Robert Burtenshaw Memorial Window.
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St Augustine's War Memorial Hall, detail of Robert Burtenshaw Memorial Window inscription.
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St Augustine's War Memorial Hall, Brigadier Arthur Varley Memorial Window
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St Augustine's War Memorial Hall, detail of Brigadier Arthur Varley Memorial Window inscription
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St Augustine's War Memorial Hall, Lieutenant Robert Varley Memorial Window
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St Augustine's War Memorial Hall, detail of Lieutenant Robert Varley Memorial Window inscription
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Description / Background

The memorial consists of a Parish Church Hall of brick construction built in 1961. The foundation stone was laid by the Lord Bishop of Armidale, The Right Reverend John S Moyes, on 18 March 1961.

Situated next to the hall is St Augustine's Church, which contains several memorial stained glass windows in the nave dedicated to servicemen from the Second World War. The windows for R G L  Burtenshaw, R P Burtenshaw and R G Thomas were dedicated by Bishop Moyes, on Sunday 6 May 1951. The windows to A L Varley and R A Varley were dedicated by Bishop Moyes on 17 June 1951, as reported in the The Inverell Times, 18 June 1951. 

Brigadier Varley was awarded the Military Cross, and was Mentioned in Despatches in the First World War, finishing with the rank of Staff Captain. During the Second World War, as Brigadier, he took a battalion overseas and later became a Brigade Commander. He was again Mentioned in Despatches and was reported missing after the sinking of a Japanese troop ship in September 1944. His son, the late Lieutenant Robert Ashton Varley, joined the service six months before the conclusion of the war. He became Reinforcements Officer to the 2nd 1st Battalion of the 6th Division and was killed in action in New Guinea in the late phase of the war.

The first two memorial stained-glass windows in the church were designed by William Bustard, renowned painter, stained-glass artist and book illustrator (1894-1973) and were manufactured by R S Exton and Co, leadlight specialists originally based in Toowoomba, Queensland. Examples of Bustard's work exist throughout Queensland, with the most impressive memorial windows in the Catholic Cathedral, St Mary's Star of the Sea, Darwin, Northern Territory, to those who died in the Japanese air raid in 1942. Bustard served in the Second World War in the Royal Australian Air Force, camouflaging installations.

The memorial windows are available for viewing during church services.

Inscription

Foundation stone

S. Augustine's

War Memorial Hall

This stone was laid by

The Lord Bishop of Armidale

March 18,1961.

Windows 1 and 2

In Memory of Robert George Thomas

Killed 28th April 1945

In memory of Robert Lyle George Burtenshaw

Killed at Singapore 19th Feb 1942 and

Ronald Perks Burtenshaw lost at sea 12 Sept 1944

W. Bustard, R.S. Exton and Co., 1950

Window 3

To the Glory of God and in memory of

Brigadier Arthur Leslie Varley MC & Bar

Lost at Sea on September 13th 1944.

Window 4

And of Lieutenant Robert Ashton Varley

killed in action in New Guinea on

April 2nd 1945.

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Address
St Augustine's Anglican Church
33 Rivers Street
Inverell NSW 2360
Local Government Area
Inverell Shire
Setting
Building – inside
Location status
Original location
Memorial type
Building
Stained glass window
Recorded by
Graham Wilson. D.A. Wiedemann.
Year of construction
1950-1951
Dedication date
06 June 1951
Conflict/s
Second World War, 1939–45
Materials
Brick
Glass
Metal