His Grace the Archbishop of Melbourne, Dr. Harrington Lees, dedicated nine windows on 7June 1922, three of which were in memory of young men who had died on active service. All three had been in camp at Broadmeadows before sailing to Europe. In 1922, the church stood on its original site on the corner of Oaklands and Bulla but was threatened by the development of Tullamarine airport and moved to its present site in 1973, reopening on 24 November 1974.
One of the three windows was dedicated to John William Leslie Johnston, a farmer and not yet 20 years old, who enlisted on 22 March 1915. He proceeded to the Gallipoli Peninsula with 24 Battalion where he was wounded in the right foot on 8 October 1915. The severity of the injury necissitated his evacuation to Malta and then on to England. By March the following year he was fit enough to rejoin his battalion in France on 29 April 1916. Private Johnson was killed in action at Fleurbaix on the 29 July 1916, aged 21. He was commemorated at Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France.
References & Acknowledgements
AWM Roll of Honour; NAA: B2455, Johnson JWL; Church of England Messenger, 25 May 1922, p.249; 22 June 1922, p.305; 6 July 1922, p.329.
Download a summary of this page
Show the location of this place on a map
Display this information in a printer-friendly format
Add this webpage as a bookmark