The design seeks to link the work and role of the REME with the painting “Christ on the Battlefield” by David Shepherd. This great artwork was painted for the regiment and used to hang behind the alter at Base Chapel, MOD Lyneham.
This link is achieved through the use of colour. From the bright golden central circle, shown as a tank wheel, the colours become stronger: darker amber and then streaky brown to relate to the representation of the battlefield scene in the tracery.
Concentric circles also allude to the world-wide role of the REME.
In the centre is the regiment’s patron saint, St. Eligius. He is portrayed as a goldsmith working on an anvil. As well as being the patron saint of goldsmiths he is also the patron saint of horses and those who work with horses.
Either side of the saint are enlarged heraldic horses/REME badges. The two versions of the cap badge are shown below the regimental motto.
The centre of the design focuses on verse 21 from Revelation chapter 21 where the Holy City, Jerusalem, is described: “The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street was of gold, as pure as transparent glass”. Three semi-opaque lenses on each side and top and bottom form a square around the saint with the golden street running vertically through the centre light. The paving stones are taken from an uncovered Roman road.
Across the design is the regimental motto “Arte et Marte” (by skill and by fighting).
The electrical side of the regiment is referred to with the incorporation of two circuit boards in the upper sections of the outer lights.
The design is composed of the shapes and forms of many of the machines that the soldiers would have worked on, “recovering the unrecoverable”.
The shapes of the central light are taken from the radiator and bumper of a Commer lorry, the two outer lights being constructed of tank tracks.
From the base of the window the dates and dedication to eighty years of service are interspersed with spanners and a crossed hammer and tongs. They sit below the track and wheels of a Warrior FV513. The track contains the regimental colours of blue, yellow and red and it forms a border leading the eye up the design. The crane/winch from the Warrior, along with others from similar vehicles and also the rising amber lenses, direct attention to the figure of Christ, the Alpha and Omega, on the battlefield scene in the tracery.
Location: St Michael and All Angels Church, Lyneham, Wiltshire