Serendipitous St Margaret’s Connections

St Martin’s Cathedral in Ypres, Belgium, was razed to the ground during World War I. In 1917, an Australian soldier retrieved four pieces of stained glass from the ruins. Not long afterwards, this soldier was killed in action. His personal effects, including the glass, were returned to his wife. A letter from his commanding officer included an explanation for the glass.

Move forward nearly 100 years and his granddaughter and her husband discover the items of glass and the leather pouch they have lived in since 1917 amongst her mother’s possessions. They decided to investigate further. They contacted the cathedral in Ypres, and the officials there gave permission for the pieces of glass to be retained here in Brisbane.

St John’s Cathedral was contacted as it holds several other pieces of memorabilia relating to World War I and World War II. The cathedral was delighted to accept the pieces and hosted a service to dedicate them. They are in the Darnell Room – John Darnell has a very special link to St Margaret’s. Through a very substantial bequest from John Darnell, the Darnell Art Room (now the Health Centre) was opened in 1933 and the Darnell Music Rooms were opened in 1936.

The Darnell Room is now in St Martin’s House. This was originally St Martin’s War Memorial Hospital which was successfully run for 49 years by the Sisters of the Society of the Sacred Advent – OUR Sisters.

And the icing on the cake was to find that the soldier’s granddaughter, who is now 92 years old, is an St Margaret’s Old Girl – Janice Bell (’51).

The photo shows the small pieces of stained glass mounted in a wooden cross. St Margaret’s fingers stretch across many areas!

Per Volar Sunata

Mary Surtees
Archivist