St. Michael was a popular representative for commemorative windows, especiallyfor airmen and the warrior saint is depicted here in golden glory. It was designed and made by Matheson & Gibson, a Melbourne stained glass firm that was set up in about 1929 and continued until the early 1950s. Thw window was placed next to St. George (also by Matheson & Gibson), a First World War memorial that was not installed until 1941.
Geelong resident Geoffrey Norman Reeve was born on 11 July 1915 and enlisted in the RAAF on 8 December 1940, just as his engagement to Gwendoline Netta Brown of 'Brancepeth', Geelong was announced. While Flight Lieutenant Reeve was with 35 Squadron in the Royal Air Force he was awarded the DFC for his part on the successful paratroop raid at Bruneval on the French coast. Returning to Australia he was posted to 1 Operational Training Unit at East Sale and was married on 7 August 1943 in Geelong Grammar Chapel. Less than one month later, on 13 September 1943, he was instructing pupil-pilot Sergeant Leslie Lloyd Giles in Beaufort A9-303 when the circuiting aircraft was seen to dive almost vertically into the swamp 3 miles south-east of the runway, where it exploded on impact and the lives of both men lost. He was buried after a full military funeral at Sale War Cemetery (Vic.).
References & Acknowledgements
AWM Roll of Honour; NAA: A705, 166/35/154; Argus, 6 December 1940, p.7; 15 September 1943, p.4; Advertiser, 14 Sptember 1943, p.2; Murray Pioneer and Australian River Record, 19 March 1942, p.3; West Australian, 5 March 1942, p.6.
With thanks to Ray Brown for images of the window
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