The delightful timber chapel of the Church of Christ in Balwyn was erected in the 1920s. A fire destroyed the chancel section of the building and it was rebuilt in 1944-45, when it is believed that the east window (in the georgraphical south) was installed. After years of uncertainty about the health and well being of their son who was shot down in Germany during the war, Mr. and Mrs. John E Austin of Chatfield Avenue, Balwyn commissioned the window from EL Yencken & Co. William Frater had retired as designer and head of the stained glass department at Yencken in 1940, when the department was forced to close as a' non-essential industry'.However, in the early post-War period,Frater's former assistant Alan Sumner, completed many windows for the firm, drawing heavily on designs previously prepared by Frater. The design shows elements of both Frater's mature and Sumner's emerging style.
Clifton Edward Austin enlisted in the RAAF on 22 May 1941, only a few days short of his 23rd birthday. Posted to 460 Squadron, he was one of the crew of Lancaster V4273 detailed to attack Stuttgart on 22 November 1942 when it was hit by flak and brought down in France near Ruchy with no loss of life. After two days of freedom, Austin and another crew member, Sergeant GR Berry, were captured and taken to Frankfurt. W/O Austin spent the remainder of the war in Stalag Luft III Lager K (the name changed over the years) before being liberated by Allied troops, two and a half years later.
References & Acknowledgements
AWM World War II Nominal Roll; NAA: A705, 166/4/176; Argus, 15 May 1945, p.13.
With thanks to Frank Evans, Church of Christ, Balwyn
