Amor William MUNDY

Regimental number5156
Place of birthSydney, New South Wales
Other NamesAmos William
SchoolBourke Street Public School, Surry Hills, and Cleveland Street Public School, Redfern, New South Wales
OccupationUpholsterer
Address27 Stanley Street, Leichhardt, Sydney, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation23
Height5' 5.5"
Weight120 lbs
Next of kinFather, A.S. Mundy, 27 Stanley Street, Leichhardt, Sydney, New South Wales
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date4 September 1915
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll17 September 1915
Place of enlistmentHolsworthy, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name1st Battalion, 16th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/18/4
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT SS Makarini on 1 April 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll1st Battalion
FateKilled in Action 22-25 July 1916
Place of death or woundingPozieres, Somme Sector, France
Age at death23.9
Age at death from cemetery records23
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
30
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Amor Samuel and Ellen Florence MUNDY, Bromsgrove, 27 Stanley Street, Leichhardt, New South Wales. Native of Sydney
Family/military connectionsBrother: 2245 Pte George Albert MUNDY, 3rd Bn, died of wounds, 19 August 1916.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Disembarked Suez, 2 May 1916.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 9 May 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 17 May 1916.

Taken on strength, 1st Bn, in the field, 7 July 1916.

Killed in action, 22-25 July 1916.

Handwritten note on Form B103: 'Buried'.

Brother George MUNDAY wrote to his parents, 31 July 1916: 'My Dear Mother and Father:-You have all heard before this of poor Amor's death. He was killed late on Saturday night, 23rd July, in the charge on Pozieres of which you will have read about. One of the chaps who belong to his tent came over to our trenches the next morning, broke the news to me, and took me over to see where he lay. He had been hit in the head with a piece of shrapnel shell, and death must have been instantaneous, as he was lying just as he had fallen, and was not disfigured. Dear Mum, you must not grieve too much and upset yourself, although it is very hard for you to bear, and remember that Amor died doing his duty in one of the biggest battles, and that it was successful. It was a terrible battle, and anyone who came through at all wonder how and why they are still alive, and it was better, as his time had come, that he passed away in the earliest part of the battle, and did not have to suffer the agony of the next few days, and still be killed in agony of body and mind, whereas his end came when he was in hot blood and excitement, and could have felt no pain at all. Try and keep good heart, dear mother, and remember that God has all our destinies shaped, and that your son was called away in the execution of his duty, the noblest duty that man was ever asked to do, with his face to the foe for ther protection of his dear mother and sisters, and home and be proud of him for that. Well, dear mother, and all of tou, do try and bear up, and rest content that Amor was smiling and satisfied in doing his share, and although my own heart is full, and I know that yiou can only watch and wait and have the hardest lot to bear. I cannot bear to say any more at present. God be with you till we meet again. From your ever loving son, George.'

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, MUNDY Amor William
Leichhardt 'Advertiser', 15 December 1916