STANWELL School students Megan Holland and Isaac Ridgley researched into how Penarth was affected by World War One for this week's This Day in History diary entry.

It was with great admiration and respect that we pored over the microfilm of the Penarth Times from October 1, 1914. It was clear that Penarth, and indeed the Penarth Times, had an important role in keeping up the morale of our troops. In a letter from the R.F.A, Athlone Barracks, Ireland, many Penarth boys talked of how glad they were to see the Penarth Times every weekend as a reminder of home.

Penarth did, in fact, become a home to injured soldiers from the Front. Mr and Mrs Williams of Plymouth Road, for example, nursed a soldier who had been injured by shelling on the battlefield after just six weeks at the Front. The Penarth Times happily reported that he had been nursed back to health and strength thanks to the efforts of these Plymouth Road residents.

The wider community, and our school, were also keen to do their bit. The Penarth Schoolboys organised ‘a grand football match’ against the Merthyr Schoolboys in aid of the local war relief fund and the District Council approved an application by the War Office to use Penarth Beach Shelter for the billeting of recruits.

Indeed the people of Penarth were very proud of their boys. In a letter from an admirer it states how gratifying it was to see the ‘noble response’ made by the young men of Penarth in aid of their country. It is quite rightly noted that this was done ‘at great sacrifice to themselves and their families’. The admirer ends by commending these men as ‘a valuable asset to their country’. We wholeheartedly agree they were.