Ceremony at Calvary Baptist Church to reflect on the Memorial Window’s history and connection to the Second World War

Have you ever wondered what the story is behind the stained glass window at the front of Calvary Baptist Church on Main Street? It’s called the Memorial Window and has a long history.

It was built from pieces of stained glass that were broken during the bombings in the Second World War and contains fragments from 91 cathedrals, churches, and chapels in England and Europe.

Each fragment of glass in the Memorial Window is related through anecdotes in approximate chronological order from 1940 to 1945. The window is composed of a left panel and a right panel, each constructed in seven sections.

It was the vision of Major Robert F. Sneyd, a Chaplain in the Canadian Army during the Second World War, who collected the window shards. The Memorial Window was put together and set in its permanent home in 1952.

The diagram titled ‘Origin of the Glass’ below the window reads: “On Saturday, September 7, 1940, London was hit by the first night of the ‘Blitz’. The next day, Sunday, Dr. R.F. Sneyd, pastor of this church, then serving as chaplain in the Canadian Armed Forces, paid his first visit to Westminster Abbey. There he noticed a fragment of glass, which had fallen from a clerestory window, lying on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. With this fragment began a collection which included pieces from many of the cathedrals and churches damaged during the Second World War.”

All the fragments he collected were labelled and carefully packed in steel ammunition cases until the war was over.

Dr. Sneyd was born in 1906 in Port Hope and became minister at Calvary Baptist Church after graduating from McMaster University. He served there for 43 years and was on leave from the church from 1939 to 1945 after enlisting in the Canadian Army during the Second World War.

He was Chaplain of the 5th Field Regiment and also served as Assistant Senior Chaplain, 4th Division Senior Chaplain, 2nd Division Senior Chaplain, and Senior Chaplain of the 5th Armoured Division.

A Memorial Tower with a window in the church’s front wall stands over the main entrance. The flag used by Dr. Sneyd during the war in funeral services for fallen soldiers is also on display inside the church (and shown in the photo with this story).

Every year before Remembrance Day, the church holds a Remembrance Service and the balcony will be open before and after the service for a closer view of the Memorial Window.

This year’s service is taking place on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 10:30 a.m. Calvary Baptist Church is located at 72 Main St.