THERE were fews homes not touched in some way by the horror and sacrifice of World War One; but for one Abergavenny family, the scale of their sacrifice prompted a letter from the King and a century on it still resonates.

The Madden family of Mill Street sent eight boys and men to the killing fields of France. For three of them it was to be a one-way journey and for three more their wounds were life-changing.

The youngest, Edgar lied about his age so that he could wear the uniform and follow his brothers into battle. It was a fateful decision, he was killed in action aged just seventeen on April 10th, 1918.

Older brother, Bill Madden, had shrapnel wounds close to the heart. He had been pronounced dead on the battlefield and thrown into the ‘dead cart’. He woke to find himself covered in bodies and miraculously survived.

However, the experience left him with nightmares for the rest of his life. His granddaughter still has the piece of shrapnel removed in an operation so pioneering it was mentioned in a newspaper article of the time.

Brother Dennis died of pneumonia at Stendal POW camp in Saxony on August 4th, 1918 and another brother, Fred, was reported missing, believed dead. despite attempts to trace him, his remains, like those of countless others, were never found.

Brother, Jerry lost an arm in the fighting and another brother, Henry suffered shrapnel wounds in his upper arm, damaging the muscle and leaving him with a withered arm and a life long disability.

Of the eight brothers only two, Jack and Tom, came back physically unscathed. Tom received the Military Medal for his part in the action at a Town Council meeting in 1919. He earned it for for carrying messages at the front during very heavy shelling in March, 1918.

Both Henry and Jerry were awarded the Silver War Badge (sometimes called the Silver Wound Badge) which men could wear as a visible sign that, though they were not serving in the Forces now, they had done their duty and should not be publicly shamed or insulted.

The letter from the Royal household, sent to the men’s father, Jeremiah Madden and signed by the Keeper of the Privy Purse,states, ‘I am commanded to express to you the King’s congratulations and to assure you that His Majesty much appreciates the spirit of patriotism which prompted this example, in one family, of their loyalty and devotion to their Sovereign and Empire.’