VIMY RIDGE SACRIFICE

Hokitika Guardian, 5 August 1929, Page 8

VIMY RIDGE SACRIFICE

> nir.jy j; n'.-;. Mor.jnuiv • !-• 'WINDOWS FORr MEMORIAL u r ■■jS.ll.uO> ■ r »’.i< 0" . t . RUGBY, . August 1. . i Secretary wirt War; Mr Tom Shaw, accompaniedr>by Sir Fabian ’Wai‘e, Vice Ohairman-rof the Imperial Wui ni Graves Commissjon, wili leave • LoHdon to-morrrow'to visit the war cemeteries in France oiand Belgium. They will .present, on behalf of the commission, a set of stained-glass windows to the Memorial Chapel in the French National Cemetery at Notre Dame de Lorette.

The set of stained-glass windows presented by the Imperial War Graves Commission for the Memorial Chapel in the French National Cemetery at Notre Dame de Lorette, France, were presented on behalf of all the Governments and peoples of the British Empire. The chapel has been built on a .spur facing Vimy Ridge. This spur was captured by the French in May, il9lo, before the British armies took over the sector, and from it they continued the attacks on Vimy in which they suffered extremely heavy losses. The chapel stands in a war cemetery containing the graves of 30,000 of those who fell in . these attacks. »

Designed and made by Mr A. Payne, the windows commemorate the dead, from all parts of the British Em.-, pire who fought over the same ground as their French comrades, and fell on French soil. They are intended as a tribute of gratitude to the French people for the assistance they have given to the Imperial War Graves Commission in their work of caring for the British graves in France and the geneous grants of land for British cemeteries and memorials. The windows consist of six lights. In one set the central figure is that of St. George, with allegorical figures on either side representing Victory. Below is seen part of the field of battle, wtith wooden crosses marking the graves of the dead. In the other set St. Joan forms the central figure, with Memory and Praise on either side. The Arms of St. Joan are at the base of the window in which her figure appears, while the Royal Arms and those of the Dominions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Newfoundland, and India are grouped under the figures in the other windows.