Hand painted religious triptych : Captain J S Udy, AIF (Chaplain)

Folding triptych chapel ornament used in religious services on the islands of Morotai and Labuan. The ornament, which is hand painted in oils, consists of three arched wooden frames joined by hinges, and depicts, on the central panel, the figure of Jesus standing above a group of service personnel, below whom are the latin words 'Ut omnes unum sint' and the translation 'THAT ALL MAY BE ONE'. The smaller flanking panels depict island scenes and people. The paintings appear to have been carried out on Perspex panels (which the donors believe were taken from wrecked aircraft) backed with masonite.

This triptych was specially constructed and painted by Australian service personnel on the island of Morotai, for use in Protestant religious services conducted by Captain James Stuart Udy. Born at Newcastle in 1920, Udy offered himself for service as a chaplain immediately after his ordination at Melbourne in January 1945, and thus received the number VX96126 although he was from NSW. After his arrival on the island of Morotai with an engineer unit, he organised the construction of a chapel, which was dedicated on July 25. Shortly afterwards, Udy was posted to 2/26 Supply Depot Company on the island of Labuan, where, after the Japanese surrender, another chapel (built to the same plans as the first) was constructed by 2/14 Works Unit. During this period, Chaplain Udy worked extensively with repatriated Prisoners of War, and with their Japanese former captors. His brothers Gloster Stuart Udy and Richard Stuart Udy both served during the Second World War, Gloster as Captain NX93451, chaplain to 2/23 Infantry Battalion, and Richard as Flight Lieutenant 423947 in the RAAF. James Udy died in February 2003.