The Le Quesnoy Window at St Andrews
St Andrews Anglican Church, on the corner of Hamilton Road and Victoria Street in Cambridge, is one of the mostwell known churches in New Zealand. It sits in a distinct place on State Highway one and is passed by thousands of people a day. It's a true landmark of Cambridge, but few people who pass it by would realise it has some very significant stained glass windows that helped to forge the bond between Cambridge and Le Quesnoy. In 1923 a set of windows were installed to commemorate the men of Cambridge who were killed in WWI. It has three distinct panels, depicting the battles of Gallipoli in 1915 showing New Zealand troops storming the beach at ANZAC Cove; a scene of a soldier praying at Ypres in 1917; and lastly the scaling of the walls of Le Quesnoy on the 4th of November 1918. This last panel was a catalyst in establishing the twinning of the towns of Cambridge and Le Quesnoy. So here is a nice close up view of the window panel, taken from a level view not normally seen by people who enter the church. We will add more about the windows to this page shortly.
Photo Copyright Richard Stowers ©2010
A Closer Look at the same photo
The following photos have been taken by Dave Homewood. This photo shows the World War One Memorial Window in its entirety, with the Gallipoli panel appearing in the left hand side window; the Ypres panel in the centre window and the Le Quesnoy panel on the right.
Here is a closer look at the Gallipoli window. One of the members of the committee who created this window in 1923 was Alan Willis, who's father had been a vicar at the church and who's brother Corporal William Brian de Laval Willis (12/289) had been killed at Gallipoli. He was shot in the chest on the 5th of May 1915, and died a week later. Interestingly in the design of the Gallipoli panel, every face on the men depicted is the face of Brian Willis.
This is the Ypres window, depicting a New Zealand soldier at prayer in the rubble of of a church in the battlefield
There are other artifacts in the church of interest including Regimental Standards, plaques, Memorial Rolls, and a World War Two window too. Here are some items of interest to Le Quesnoy, a painting of the walls being scaled and a plaque presented
