Altar’s origins now laid out
Volume 11, No. 38, March 8, 2006


CHAP Mark Watt’s prayers have been answered.

Army put the word out that it was looking for more information about an alter in the Chaplains’ College Museum. We thought it dated back to World War II, but Chap Watt, 2/17RNSWR, found the alter’s builder, Ron Fulwell.

Mr Fulwell made it in 1962.

He doesn’t think it’s good form to knock a chaplain back, and didn’t think so then, when he was OC Admin Coy at the School of Inf.

“In 1961 the company chaplain approached me to hold a service in the field and had virtually nothing,” Mr Fulwell recalled.
The news that Mr Fulwell built the large field altar complete with an inlaid Rising Sun, closes a chapter on a story reported in Army newspaper in September 2005.

“The altar was used extensively at Singleton when it was home to 2 Bn,” Mr Fulwell said. “As the years went by and it became 2/17th Bn, I lost track of it.”

As a result of the story, Mr Fulwell has offered to build some more which could be used in each state.

Chap Watt was thrilled to hear the story has found the full history of such an interesting instrument of worship.
“We can’t wait to take delivery of more altars.”.