Subject

Alpha and Omega

Text

none

Inscription

To the Glory of God, and the memory of our parents Margaret and Charles Alexander and brothers Edward, Charles, John, Jacob and Thomas.

Description & History

This window was a family memorial, however three sons served in the First World War and two of the brothers, Edward and John, were killed in action. All are among the 28 young men from the church 'who volunteered for King and Country' remembered on the church's Honour Roll; seven men from the parish were among the fallen. The window was likely to have been made by Brooks, Robinson & Co. as it appears to be the model for the Second World War windows that were ordered many years later in 1951.

Although not the eldest of the sons of Charles and Margaret Alexander, John Alexander, aged 22, was first to enlist on 1 August 1915. In civilian life he was a farrier, a skill that does not seem to have been employed while he served his country. Disembarking in Marseilles among the reinforcements for 5 Battalion on 31 March 1916, he was reported killed in action at Pozieres, France on 25 July 1916; he was remembered on the Villiers-Bretonneux Memorial, France. A studio photgraph of John, probably taken at Broadmeadows, is held in the AWM records DA10061.

Eldest son, Edward was just a month short of his 30th birthday when he enlisted on 10 January 1916 at Seymour, leaving his trade as a bricklayer. A Sapper with 10th Field Company Engineers, he was severely wounded in action on 19 April 1918 and died shortly after his arrival at the 20 Casualty Clearing Station the same day. He was buried at Vignacourt British Cemetery in France.

References & Acknowledgements

AWM Roll of Honour; NAA: B2455, Alexander J; NAA: B2455, Alexander E.