The church is recorded by the National Trust as one of Victoria's oldest rural churches (1855) with chancel, vestry and porch added in 1857 to designs of Shaw & Dowden. The memorial east window was unveiled on Sunday 14 September 1919 by the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, Dr. Lowther Clarke, who travelled to Geelong to conduct services and dedications at Belmont and Barrabool on the same day. The window, designed and made by William Montgomery, included the badge of Australian Commonwealth Military Forces which was inserted prominently above the inscription to the two men. An Honour Roll was also dedicated on the same day.
John James Lamb was 18 years old when he enlisted, with the consent of his parents Ada and John, on 15 July 1915. After only a month with 57 Battalion he joined 58 Battalion and proceeded to France on the Transylvania, disembarking at Marseilles on 23 June 1916. Private Lamb was reported wounded and missing on the 19 August 1916, after the battle of Fromelles and his family heard of his death from his mates and Chaplain FF Williams of 58 Battalion (who returned his bullet-holed wallet), well before any official word came from the army. A court of enquiry, held in September 1917, pronounced him 'killed in action'. He was buried 'in the vicinity of Fleurbaix' and is now honoured at the VC Corner Australian Cemetery and Memorial, Fromelles.
John Norman Mann was a 19 year old farmer when he enlisted on 14 July 1915, with the consent of his mother, Mrs. Jenny Mann of Ceres. As part of reinforcements to 29 Battalion, he travelled to France on the same day as John Lamb. Mann was wounded in action on 25 July but returned to duty only to suffer from chilled feet, soon followed by trench feet, and then influenza, all of which required hospitalisation for periods of time. He was promoted to Lance-Corporal on 4 October 1917 and killed in action on 29 August 1918 after just over three years service. He was buried at Eterpigny Communal Cemetery Extension, a few miles south-south-west of Peronne in France.
References & Acknowledgements
AWM Roll of Honour; NAA B2455, Lamb John James; B2455, Mann, John Norman; Argus, 20 September 1918, p.1; Argus, 16 September 1919, p.8; Miles Lewis (et al), Victorian Churches, National Trust, Melbourne, 1991.
With thanks to Ray Brown for images of the window
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