THIS WEEK Stanwell School students Megan Holland and Isaac Ridgley look into how Penarth soldiers fared on the front line during World War One for our This Day in History diary entry.

In the October 8, 1914, edition of the Penarth Times we again hear tales from the Penarth Boys stationed at various barracks around the country, including Preston and Dorset. The Penarth recruits report they are doing well and that their hosts are ‘kindness itself’. They remember fondly the great send off they received from the people of Penarth in September 1914 and thank the residents, sure that it will never be forgotten.

The Penarth Times also reported on the promotion of Penarthians fighting for King and Country with six reported to have become lance-corporals and PC Beresford of Penarth being considered for sergeant. It is written that the Penarth boys were looked upon with a great deal of pride.

The Penarth residents were clearly keen to do their bit. This is especially evident in one letter to the Penarth Times calling on people to do what they can to support the troops. Constance Maillard, wife of the headmaster of Penarth County School (now Stanwell School), appealed for items to send to the troops at the Front including peppermints and safety matches.

She called on all Penarthians, including children, to do what they could "to help and cheer the finest men in the world who are fighting for justice and righteousness in this terrible war".

The kindness of the community is reflected in the offer by Mr Edgar Evans to print lists of what was needed at the Front for every house in Penarth and the Boy Scouts, always willing to do their bit for others, offered to collect these comforts for the troops every Saturday.

Mrs Maillard writes of "the debt owed to these brave men who stand between us and such horrors". We recognise and pay tribute to that debt over a hundred years later.