St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church Memorial Entrance, Guyra

About

The memorial is a set of gates at the entrance to St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in Guyra. The gates consist of six brick pillars, connected by two wrought iron double traffic gates and two hand gates. They were completed in February 1952 and several marble plaques dedicated to a number of early Guyra pioneers were attached. Two plaques for Flight Sergeant Laurence Pearson were also attached.  There is no dedication plaque on the memorial; however, the following was reported in The Guyra Argus on 28 February 1952: The wrought iron gates have been dedicated in memory of R. Kelly, killed in World War I, and the late J. Hiscox. Robert Cornelius Kelly enlisted as a single farmer aged 23 years of 'Brookfield' via Guyra. He enlisted as a Private on 4 April 1916 in the 33rd Battalion, 4th Reinforcement. His unit embarked from Sydney on board HMAT A30 Borda on 17 October 1916. He was killed in action on 5 June 1917. There was no known grave and he was commemorated on the Australian National Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux, France.