Symbols of the Presbyterian Church - the Cross of St. Andrew and the Burning Bush - feature in this predominantly leadlight window, possibly identifying the Stewart family's Scottish ancestry as well as their faith. However, their Australian connections were also recognised with the inclusion of sprays of wattle that resemble a section of a wreath, sitting below a finely-crafted Air Force badge at the top of the lancet. The designer and date of the window's unveiling are unknown.
Flight Sergeant John Galloway Stewart was the son of Galloway and Ketha Stewart of Tatura and only 20 years old when he died on 22 June 1944 as one of the seven man crew aboard Lancaster LL971, 467 Squadron. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission notes that Stewart is buried in a joint grave at Reichswald Forest War Cemetery at Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, which is close to the Dutch border and not far from Dusseldorf in Germany. Most of the airmen buried in the cemetery died in the intensive air attacks over Germany and their graves were brought in from isolated sites in the surrounding districts. At the same time that Flight Sergeant Stewart was reported missing, his father Lieutenant Galloway Stewart, who fought in the 4 Light Horse in the First World War, was a prisoner of war under the Japanese having been taken at the fall of Singapore, and a younger brother James Burt was a pilot-in training.
References & Acknowledgements
AWM Roll of Honour; NAA: A705, 166/38/579; Argus, 27 June 1944, p.5; 28 July 1944, p.11; 2 June 1945, p.7; http://www.cwgc.org/
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