When CFB CORNWALLIS closed in 1994, the base chapel, St. George’s, was deconsecrated. STAR’s padre, LCdr Don Lee, obtained some items from the chapel and brought them back to STAR with him. These included a brass missal stand, brass vases and candlesticks as well as a large cross with superimposed anchor on a stand and two smaller versions without stands. Pictures of the memorial stained-glass windows that used to be in the chapel were also given to STAR.
In 1997, when a museum opened in CORNWALLIS, these items were returned and put on display.
The museum closed in 2017 and the items then passed into the care of Halifax Naval Museum and were eventually returned to STAR and were incorporated into a display here.
In August 2026, one of the two brass crosses with the superimposed anchor was deaccessioned and will be delivered to Quebec City to be used in the creation of an RCN Sacrifice and Service Bell to be situated at Beechwood National Military Cemetery in Ottawa. Brass items from all ships and units of the RCN will be incorporated into the bell. Our item, being eighteen inches tall and weighing perhaps twenty-five pounds, may be one of the largest contributions.
