BEHIND the SCENES

After 2021

The Re-Discovery in 2021

Graeme Funnell found the Cross in a storage area at the back of his garage. His father built the house in the mid 1950s and Graeme recalls occasionally seeing the Cross when he was a young boy, without knowing what its origins were. At some point it must have been put into the back 'cupboard' and stayed there. It really is just a small door which opens into a small undeveloped area of the ground beneath the floor of the house. Some lengths of timber can be seen there, even now.

The Original Display

After receiving the Conway Cross in 2021, a white board with a modest timber frame was constructed and the Cross was fixed to it, along with a couple of laminated sheets of A4 paper which explained various things about the Cross and how it came to be at the MERSL. The resulting display was hung on a wall in the memorabilia area of the premises in 2022.

Suggested Improvements

During the following year, things went up a notch or two when one of our members, Bob Elworthy, gave some serious thought to the history of the Cross (at least, what little we knew of it) and of its significance (which was more clearly understood). As the President of the Victorian branch of the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia he not only recognized the importance of the individual contributions and sacrifices made by soldiers in past conflicts, but he was also in a position to provide sufficient funding to take appropriate steps to ensure the long-term preservation of the Cross. Fortunately, the VVAA agreed with Bob’s assessment of the relic from WW1 and significant finances were made available to engage professional conservators and people who could design and build a museum-quality encasement to house the Cross. 

Conservation & Encasement

During 2024, discussions were held with One Conservation (a company which ensures a high standard of preservation for items of historical importance, particularly those in a delicate condition) and with Thylacine (a company which designs and constructs high quality museum-standard cabinets for permanent display of historical items, particularly those which require isolation from any external influences which might cause deterioration of specimens over a long period).

In the middle of the year, the Cross was handed over to One Conservation, with all due care and respect to its origins, for detailed examination and testing. The latter even included X-ray checks to ensure that the wood did not contain anything that might cause later damage (particularly, tiny insects and other organic matter). The guiding principle for the work was that there should be every effort to conserve the Cross, and minimal effort to restore it – as far as possible, it should be displayed in original condition (or at least in the state in which it was found in 2021).

The cabinet was designed so that the contents would be hermetically sealed, safe from any atmospheric effects which might cause gradual degradation over many years. It was installed in the upstairs area at the end of October.

Installation Finalized ...

Postscript About Flags

The 'unveiling' of the display involved the drawing apart of two flags ... the Australian flag and the Union Jack flag. Initially, the reasons were practical and twofold: one flag wasn't quite wide enough to cover the display, and two flags made for a simpler unveiling by two people. A Union Jack flag was available, so it was used.

However, the second flag brings with it a more subtle and historical significance. When Pte Harry enlisted in 1916, the first page to be completed on the standard application included the question "Are you a natural born British Subject ...?" which Harry answered in the affirmative. There was no question on the page about Australian citizenship as the notion didn't exist then. After Harry died, the folk at Christmas Hills erected a memorial obelisk dedicated to the local residents who served in WW1, especially those who gave their lives. The memorial was unveiled in 1921 but Capt. Stanley Bruce, MC, MHR (later to be Prime Minister). In his speech, the local newspaper reported that Capt. Bruce 'spoke of the indomitable British courage – courage that knew nothing of being "beaten" ...' The article then described the unveiling ... 'and then, slowly drawing the tricolored ribbon which fastened the great Union Jack round the memorial, he dedicated it to the memory of our heroes'. The obelisk includes the words '... laid down their lives for King and Country in the Great War ...'.

In true replication of that first unveiling, and understanding the circumstances under which Pte Harry Conway went to War, it would seem that the final resting place of his spirit should inevitably see his memory behind both flags – the Union Jack and the Australian Southern Cross.