Friends of St Augustine's Church look back at local families signing up for WWI

One of the most striking items was a group of photographs of a family called Maunder – father, mother and five sons – beneath the headline: “Penarth Family’s Record: Father and Five Sons serving with the forces”.

No further comment was made, except for the details of the regiments in which they were serving; indeed, no comment was needed.

The Maunder family lived in King Street.

Of the family, two members died shortly after the end of the war, both of them as a result of wounds received in action, and were buried at St Augustine’s: Private Edgar E. Charles Maunder, and Private Francis John Gordon Maunder.

The Maunders were a well-known extended local family, and had other relatives who served in the war.

Thomas William Maunder, for example, son of William James Maunder of 41 Plassey Street, served in the Worcestershire Regiment, and died on October 31, 1918, from serious chest wounds at a hospital in Boulogne.

He had been a member of St Paul’s Church.

And then there was the “Private C. Maunder”, about whom we know little, apart from the fact that, from the front line, he sent a poem to the Penarth Times in which he gently mocked those who had remained behind, pointing out the “dangers” of life in Penarth, and suggesting that “for their safety” they had better come and join him:

I am only a Penarth boy

But I hope someday to see

Some of the boys from old Penarth

In the trenches here with me.

In this edition of the Penarth Times we also see how local activities continued as usual, though often with proceeds going to the war effort.

For example, a whist drive and dance at St Augustine’s Institute (proceeds to the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ War Fund), and a charity whist drive at the Ship Hotel (proceeds to a wounded Belgian soldier recuperating in Penarth).

Meanwhile a newsagent in Glebe Street had a box on his counter into which people put cigarettes to be given to wounded soldiers arriving in Cardiff, and a plea was made for old periodicals to be sent to the soldiers stationed at Llandough Waterworks.

The war had naturally caused problems for bodies such as the Male Voice Choir, and a plea was published for more members.

It is interesting to note that there was no hint of criticism of those who had not volunteered for service (later in the war, of course, the ”white feather” campaign castigated such men): “There is room for young men who have not, for reasons of their own, enlisted in His Majesty’s Forces, in the ranks of the Male Voice Choir. The membership has been reduced nearly one-third through the war, so many having entered the Army”.