Makara church window war memorial

Makara church window war memorial. This window is located in St Matthias' Church, Makara and was dedicated on 23 June 1917. The window was a gift from friends and members of the community and was made in Dunedin by Smith and Smith.

Note that the original St Matthias' Church (built c1867) was demolished in 1920 and replaced by the current structure in 1921. The memorial window was presumably moved to the new building at this time. Read more about the early history of the Church

The memorial commemorates John Howard Jervis who was killed during the Gallipoli campaign on 9 August 1915*. Jervis was a trooper in the Wellington Mounted Rifes Regiment which played a key roll in the Gallipoli campaign. Read more about the WMR at Gallipoli.

Jervis also appears on the main Makara war memorial and on the Chunuk Bair Memorial to the Missing (Anzac website).

Read more about John Jervis' service on the Cenotaph database (includes link to his personnel file).

At the dedication ceremony it was recorded 'that it was the late Trooper Jervis, then only a lad, who in the early morning of 13th February, 1909 rode through a fierce storm of wind and rain over the mountain bridle track from Terawhiti Station with news of the wreck of the steamer Penguin.'

*Although the window records his date of death as 8 August, his official service record shows it was 9 August.