Fredrick Charles Mundy M. C.
Memorial: Thornbury - St Mary's Church
Regiment: Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Medals: British War Medal, Military Cross, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Lieutenant
Parents: Major Basil St John Mundy and the Honourable Violet Wilhelmina Mundy
Home address: Thornbury Farm, Bristol Road, Thornbury, Bristol
Pre-war occupation: Working in the Shipping Office
Date of birth: 1895
Place of birth: Enniskerry near Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland
Date of death: 26/10/1917
Buried/Commemorated at: Duhallow Advanced Dressing Station Cemetery (Ref. II. A. 27.); Clifton College War Memorial
Age: 22
Further information:
Wooden Memorial Board
Frederick Charles Mundy, known as Freddie, was born in 1895, the only child of Major Basil Mundy and his wife, the Honourable Violet Mundy, daughter of Frederick Morgan of Ruperra Castle. The couple came to live in Thornbury, near other family members. Having attended Stancliffe Hall Preparatory School near Matlock, Derbyshire, Freddie was a boarder at Clifton College, Bristol, from 1909 to 1911. Following a long voyage on one of ship-owner Sir William Tatem’s vessels, Freddie was employed in Tatem’s office at Cardiff Docks. He was said to be ‘very popular in shipping circles and looked upon as a young man who would make his mark in the shipping world’
At the outbreak of war many men in the reserves of the Royal Navy were formed into naval brigades operating on land. In January 1915 Freddie was commissioned into Anson Battalion, as a Sub- Lieutenant. He was posted to Gallipoli and was at Suvla in September. In January 1916 Allied troops were withdrawn from Gallipoli after a disastrous campaign. The Royal Naval Division then garrisoned the islands of Lemnos, Imbros, and Tenedos. In February 1916 Freddie was sent to Stavros, in connection with operations relating to Salonika. In May he was posted to France and arrived at Marseilles on the 19th. On 23rd Freddie was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant
During the Somme Offensive, serving with Anson Battalion at Angres near Arras, Freddie carried out trench raids, trying to capture prisoners whose identification would give much needed information about the enemy’s movements. During the night of 10th October 1916, despite suffering a gunshot wound to the chest, Freddie continued to lead his raiding party, successfully bringing back a prisoner, whilst under fire. Freddie was treated at 20th General Hospital, Camiers, and then at Mrs Burn’s Hospital in Torquay. In November he was awarded the Military Cross for his gallant actions during this daring raid
By the end of April 1917, Freddie was back on the Western Front. He was in England on leave from 26th August to 5th September. In late October Anson Battalion was in the front line south of Poelcapelle near Ypres. At 5.40 a.m. on 26th, on the first day of the Second Battle of Passchendaele, the Ansons took part in an assault on Varlet Farm. The War Diary records that the ground was ‘a mass of shell holes four to five feet deep in water, the intervening spaces being filled with mud into which the men sank over their knees.’ Battalion casualties were ten officers and 260 other ranks killed, wounded or missing. Freddie was injured by a shell, which fractured his right lower leg and his left knee joint. He was taken to the 18th Corps Main Dressing Station but died the same day
In 1937, perhaps in memory of her son, the Hon. Mrs Mundy gave a large plot of land to the town to provide a recreational park. This is still known as the Mundy Playing Fields
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
Thornbury Roots Website. Thornbury and District Museum Research Group, Forces War Records and the CWGC