Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Charles William Saunders, the fifth son of Mark and Phoebe (née Taylor) Saunders, was born on 20 November 1881 at Pleasant Point, although he gave his year of birth as 1886. Charles attended Pleasant Point School and spent some time at Waimataitai School in Timaru, before going out to work in 1896 and spending the rest of his short life at Pleasant Point. At the 1894 Pleasant Point School prize-giving he was awarded a prize for Standard V composition. His father served for some years on the Pleasant Point School committee and volunteered for school activities. He was the one who at the annual meeting of April 1899, “in a highly complimentary speech referred to the excellent work done by the teachers.” Later that year at the school concert, as acting chairman, he “addressed a few words of good advice to the children and parents.” He was then re-elected with the second highest number of votes. In 1902 Mr M. Saunders donated a special prize for the Pleasant Point prize distribution. Also in 1902, on the king’s coronation day, the Pleasant Point community enjoyed various celebrations – “One novelty for the Point was a cannon obtained by Mr M. Saunders, which astonished and startled the inhabitants frequently during the afternoon by its might roar.” Mr Saunders also served on the Pleasant Point Town Board. Mark Saunders senior was a rather inventive man who tried for many years to generate power from the waves at Dashing Rocks. He also applied for a patent for an improved harvesting appliance, and he devised an invention for facilitating the loading of produce at the wharf. In August 1914 he suffered a very badly mutilated hand in a serious accident on the eastern mole. He was also a good, patriotic man, interested in local affairs and contributing in 1915 to the Belgian Fund.

A fine strapping lad, strong and tall, who looked his age, Charles had attested at Christchurch on 14 April 1902 and served for 120 days as a trooper in the last New Zealand contingent for the South African War (No. 9444), for which service he was awarded the South African War Medal. He developed bronchitis on the troopship “Nineveh” in September 1902. It was the result of his active service and justified examination by the Medical Board. By January 1903 he had almost recovered and would soon be fit for work again. Charles had arrived back in Timaru with other local men of the Tenth Contingent on 4 September 1902, to a warm welcome at the station. At that time, he was a farmer and intended to return to Pleasant Point. He was noted as being of very good character. At a farewell function for a local man, in the form of a smoke concert at the Oddfellows’ Hall, Pleasant Point, in early July 1906, Charles was one who contributed songs.

He worked as a traction engine driver, one of the contracts he was engaged in being the carriage of the materials from Fairlie to Mount Cook for the new Hermitage, a task which took more than 12 months. He was an engine driver at Claremont when he enlisted for World War I on 20 October 1914 at Timaru. He was single and of Church of England affiliation. His next-of-kin was his older brother – Eustace Saunders, Fairlie. He stood at 5 feet 11½ inches, weighed 168 pounds, and had a chest measurement of 34-37 inches. He had a fair complexion, grey eyes and dark brown hair. His sight, hearing, colour vision and teeth were all good, his limbs and chest well formed, his heart and lungs normal. Free from diseases and defects, and vaccinated, he was in good bodily and mental health. While in camp at Trentham, Charles and five other men wrote a letter of gratitude to Mrs Guinness for the kindness which had been shown to them by the ladies of South Canterbury. “As representatives of South Canterbury we can safely claim to be the best equipped troop in camp, and more over, not only are the articles provided by you very superior in quality to the general issue, but have been selected with a view of our greatest comfort.”

On 14 December 1914 Trooper C. W. Saunders embarked at Wellington for Egypt with the Canterbury Mounted Rifles of the 2nd Reinforcements. After disembarking at Alexandria on 2 February 1915, he went to Gallipoli. Charles was promoted to Lance-Corporal (unpaid) on 28 July 1915 at Walkers Ridge, and to Corporal on 9 August 1915 at Bauchop Hill, just a few weeks before his death of illness. On 1 September 1915 Charles was admitted to Bombay Hospital at Alexandria, dangerously ill with fever. The next day he was dead, from para-typhoid, aged 33 years 9 months. Charles is buried in the Chatby Military Memorial Cemetery at Alexandria. His brother Eustace received a telegram from the Minister of Defence advising of the death, and “Please accept my sincerest sympathy in the loss which you and New Zealand have sustained.” In a letter home in August/September 1915, Trooper James Patrick of Geraldine wrote “There are a lot of boys coming to Alexandria with dysentery, and a great number with typhoid.”

At the Mackenzie County Council meeting held on 1 October 1915, the chairman “expressed sympathy with relatives of those killed and wounded in action recently, especially referring to Lieutenant C. Hayter, Drivers Sanders and McVey; also to J. Trotter and Robin Caskey, wounded. He also referred to the steps to be taken with regard to the control and administration of the fund in hand for aiding the sick and wounded of South Canterbury.” Both Cyril Hayter and Daniel McVey, with Mackenzie district connections, died in August 1915. Driver Sanders would appear to refer to Charles William Saunders. By his Will dated 3 November 1913, Charles left all his real estate to his mother, Phoebe Saunders, and after her death, to his sister Alice; likewise, all consumable household stores, effects and provisions, the linen, china, cutlery and glass, also the use and enjoyment of the household furniture, and the plate, books, pictures and prints. The residue was to be held in trust by his executors and trustees (Eustace Saunders, brother, of Fairlie, and Alfred Saunders, cousin, of Pleasant Point) for his mother and sister. Eustace and Alfred advised that letters dated before 2 September 1915 had been received from Charles, but none dated after.

Charles was a brother of Mark Saunders, who was killed in action 1917. His brother Eustace also served in the South African War and enlisted for World War One. Both Eustace, a married man with one child, and their brother Harry, a married man with five or six children, were listed on the Reserve Rolls. Albert Edward Bennett Saunders, a nephew of Charles, Eustace and Mark, was killed in action in 1917 in Belgium. And two cousins, Alfred Saunders (one of the executors of Charles’s will and married to Alice, a sister of Charles) and William Saunders, also served in World War One. Charles’s medals – 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal - were sent to his mother at Pleasant Point; the plaque and scroll to his father at the Railway Private Hotel, Timaru in 1921.

For many years Corporal Charles William Saunders, 7/780, was regularly remembered in In Memoriam or Roll of Honour notices in the Timaru Herald. “With others he gave his life, for the freedom of the whole human race.” [2 September 1918.] “Like others, he gave his life for humanity’s best interests.” [2 September 1919.] “Shall these men and women die in vain?” [2 September 1920.] “Like others, he died for the freedom of the whole human race.” [2 September 1921.] “SAUNDERS. — In loving memory of Corporal C. W. Saunders, 7/780, 2nd Reinforcements, South Canterbury Mounted Rifles, 2nd September, 1915. Is our world better for the supreme sacrifices of all the brave dead of the Allied Nations? Also for the great services rendered by doctors, nurses, ambulances, the maimed and blighted, etc.?” [2 September 1922.] “Let those who come after, see to it that their names be not forgotten.” [3 September 1923 & 2 September 1924.] A photo of Corporal C. W. Saunders is printed in Onward: Portraits of the NZEF, Vol. 1.

Anzac Day was fittingly celebrated in Timaru on 25 April 1920, when solemn tribute was paid to the honoured dead. A large wooden cross was erected on a rockery and a large laurel wreath, carrying the words “In memory of our fallen comrades”, was placed by the Returned Soldiers’ Association at the foot of the cross. In his address Pastor Nichol paid a warm tribute not only to the men of Anzac but to all who had gone forth so valiantly to fight that we might live in peace and safety. During the playing of “The Dead March”, wreaths which had been sent were arranged at the cross. Among these were wreaths in memory of two brothers and their nephew - C. W. Saunders, Mark Saunders and Albert Bennett Saunders. The Battalion Band played the “Last Post” and the ceremony closed with the National Anthem.

In September 1921 the Pleasant Point War Memorial was unveiled in an impressive ceremony. Sited in a commanding position, it is an imposing monument constructed largely of Coromandel granite, with the names – including that of C. W. Saunders - clearly engraved beneath the inscription – “Our Glorious Dead. Their Memory Liveth for Ever.” Wreaths were laid on the steps and the “The Last Post” sounded by the bugler. A tablet to the memory of the ex-pupils of the Pleasant Point District High School who lost their lives in the Great War, was unveiled in June 1922. After the singing of the National Anthem, the chairman of the school committee addressed the gathering. “He was pleased to say that the ex-pupils of the school had nobly come forward at their country’s call, prepared to do or die in defence of what they considered right against might. He was sorry to say that twenty of these men had been called upon to make the supreme sacrifice, and those present were gathered that day to do honour to these fallen ex-pupils, by unveiling a tablet to their memory.” A prayer was offered, the hymn “O God our Help” was sung; a scripture reading was given, after which “Kipling’s Recessional” was sung. Mr T. D. Burnett, M.P., who unveiled the tablet, thanked the committee for the great privilege of being asked to do “honour to the brave sons of the district who had come forward prepared to do their utmost in their nation’s trial.” In pulling the tape, which let loose the Union Jack that was covering the tablet, Mr Burnett read the names of the deceased heroes – C. Saunders and eighteen others. A prayer by the Rev. Hinson, the hymn “Abide with Me,” and the sounding of the “Last Post” concluded the service. The tablet bears the following inscription. — “l9l4 For King and Country 1918.”

In Memory of the Ex-pupils

Of this School,

Who gave their Lives

In the Great War.

C. W. Saunders is honoured on the Mackenzie District War Memorial at Fairlie. The original Mackenzie County War Memorial was unveiled on 16 December 1929. It has since been rebuilt. The parade, including the Timaru Municipal Band, 49 Returned Soldiers, the Executive Committee of the War Memorial, the Mackenzie Pipe Band, and School children from Mackenzie County Schools, formed up at the Post Office and marched to the site of the memorial. After the singing of the National Anthem, and a verse of the Canadian Anthem, the Chairman addressed the gathering, expressing gratification at the fact that at long last they were met to unveil and dedicate the memorial to the soldiers from the Mackenzie County who fell in the Great War. The design was unique in South Canterbury. It was not a cenotaph, or solely a monument of those buried elsewhere. It expressed more than that. It was a catafalque, a cairn upon which symbolically the remains of the Unknown Warrior were elevated, and were contained in the representation of a casket at the top of the structure. The base was composed of glacial boulders, and the shaft of limestone blocks. The whole erection was therefore constructed of indigenous stone. Thus symbolically the Warrior rested on his native soil. The wreath above the tablet, composed of laurel leaves carved in stone symbolised victory. The tablet on which the names were inscribed is of marble. In a lengthy address, Father Barra, who had himself served as a chaplain, outlined clearly the campaigns throughout which New Zealanders had served, fought and died. They had “stood up in their splendid manhood, enthusiastically responding from the first to the call of their country.” He paid sensitive and abundant tribute to all involved in any role in the conflicts. An avenue of oak trees commemorating Fairlie’s fallen soldiers lines its main street.

Mr and Mrs Saunders lost two sons and a grandson in the war. Mrs Phoebe Saunders, who spent much of her married life in the Pleasant Point district, died there on 9 January 1927, aged 78 years, and was buried at the local cemetery. The Timaru Herald of 3 March 1928 carried this report – “Throughout South Canterbury, residents will regret to learn of the illness of Mr Mark Saunders, who was admitted to the public hospital a few days ago, in a very low condition. Mr Saunders, who is 84 years of age, has devoted most of his life to efforts to obtain energy from the waters of the sea, his work at Dashing Rocks, and later on the Evans Extension having aroused considerable interest. On inquiry at the hospital last evening, it was learned that Mr Saunders’s condition was unchanged, but he was slightly brighter.” This well-known, optimistic, kindly, popular, devout man who, sadly, failed to accomplish his ideals, died on 4 March at the Timaru Public Hospital. On 30 August 1923, Mark Saunders had written one of his classic letters to the Editor of the Timaru Herald – Sir, —For forty-six years on end, a section of the public hare looked “with eyes of iron” on my inventive efforts. And for the last twenty years acid has been added, making my life the reverse of heaven. Is this British fair-play? But two friends are in sight, namely, longer days and warmer weather. Then we shall soon see where folly lies, or where common-sense has been buried for decades. “Oh Britain, land of skill, With all thy faults, I love thee still.” I am, etc., . . .

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [20 October 2013]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ ref. AABK 18805 W5515 0004952) [18 December 2013]; CWGC [21 October 2013]; Timaru Herald, 27 December 1894, 31 August 1900, 5 September 1902, 7 July 1906, 1 December 1914, 18 & 22 September 1915, 2 October 1915, 2 September 1918, 2 September 1919, 26 April 1920, 2 September 1920, 2 September 1921, 27 June 1922, 2 September 1922, 23 August 1923, 3 September 1923, 2 September 1924, 10 January 1927, 3 & 6 March 1928, 16 December 1929, Otago Daily Times, 10 June 2015, Evening Post, 13 & 17 September 1915, New Zealand Herald, 13 & 18 September 1915, Waikato Times, 17 September 1915, New Zealand Herald, 18 September 1915, Press, 18 September 1915, Dominion, 18 September 1915, Temuka Leader, 17 September 1921 (Papers Past) [22 & 23 October 2013; 14 February 2015; 06 March 2015; 24 May 2015; 17 December 2015; 06 February 2018; 30 January 2020; 28 August 2021; 10 March 2022; 11 June 2023]; Probate record (Archives NZ/FamilySearch) [16 June 2014]; School Admission Records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [2014]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [2013]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [24 May 2015; 11/06/2023]; Photo in Onward: Portraits of the NZEF, Vol. 1 (South Canterbury Branch NZSG library) [08/11/2014]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file
• Other military personnel file

Related Documents

• SAUNDERS William Charles - newspaper clippings (pdf, 86.6 KB updated 12-Jul-2023)

Researched and Written by

Currently Assigned to

TS