Subject

St. George

Text

St. George [Plaque] So they passed over-... and all the trumpets sounded for them on the other side

Inscription

[Plaque] In proud and loving memory of Bombardier William Ventry Gayer M.M. Son of Edward Ventry and Hester Hawdon Gayer Australian Field Artillery Aged 35 Died of wounds received near Ypres Nov. 1st 1917 Buried at Lijssenthoek near Poperinghe Belgium; Lieut. Cecil Pybus Cooke son of Herbert Pybus and Agnes Cooke Kings Shropshire Light Infantry Aged 29 Killed in action August 22 1917 Buried at Glengorse Wood near Ypres Who gave their lives in the Great War

Description & History

Samuel Winter Cooke wrote to the melbourne stained glass artist, William Montgomery in October 1920 with a proposal to put a stained glass window into the Tahara Anglican Church of St. Peter, in memory of his two nephews who were killed in action during the Great War. Mr. Winter Cooke asked Montgomery to personally examine and measure the window, and offered to meet the train in his -'motor-' and to lodge him for a night or two. It was a rare opportunity for Montgomery to design a window as he wished, and not to a price. It seems to have been the vicar's suggestion to make the subject St. George. Montgomery quoted £45 for the window and 8 guineas for a memorial brass. Mr. Winter Cooke wrote to report the arrival of the window and the brass and was very pleased with both, despite the fact that the window was too wide for the opening and needed alteration by his carpenter. An account was sent to S. Winter Cooke Esq. on 14 June 1921. The full price of £57.1.0 included Montgomery's return rail fare from Melbourne to Hamilton (£1.11.0).

William Ventry Gayer, son of Edward Ventry and Hester Gayer was a grazier, aged 33 and married to Jessie Stuart Gayer, when he applied to enlist at Hamilton on 23 August 1915. Initially part of the 1st Reinforcements for 4 Artillery Brigade, he transferred to 11 Brigade in December 1915 as Gunner and later, in France, he was appointed Bombadier. On 9 October 1917, and in charge of a party conveying ammunition to his Battery near Zonnebecke, the party came under heavy fire. Another Driver and horses were killed, as was Gayer's horse. Taking another horse, he succeeded in delivering the ammunition under adverse conditions and at a critical period for the Battery. He was awarded the Military Medal for his bravery in the field. Less than a month later he was wounded in action and taken to 3 Canadian Clearing Station where he died on the same day, 1 November 1917. He was buried at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium.

Cecil Pybus Cooke was a student at Geelong Grammar School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. In 1916 he entered officer training with the Artists' Rifles, a volunteer corps that had been formed originally in the 1860s. Many of its cadets were drawn from public schools and universities and a majority became officers including Cooke who was appointed 2nd Lieutenant in 4 Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry. He was killed in the Third Battle of Ypres on 22 August 1917 and was commemorated at Tyne Cot Cemetery.

References & Acknowledgements

AWM Roll of Honour; NAA: B2455, Gayer WV; J. Affleck, Geelong Grammarians in the Great War (1999), p.18; B. Pepper, A History of Saint Peter's Tahara 1881-1981, 1981, p.27. Letterbooks 4/923, 4/911,?/606 NGA Research Collection, Canberra, ACT. Letters from Samuel Winter Cooke to Montgomery 14 October 1920, 17 June 1921, 22 June 1921; Folio 154, Montgomery ledger, William Montgomery Collection, State Library of Victoria. http://artistsriflesassociation.org/regiment-artists-rifles.htm.

With thanks to Catherine and Sam Winter Cooke for arranging access to St. Peter's, Tahara and to Beverley Pepper for sharing her extensive knowledge of the church's history.