The Story of the Thomas Maule Postcard and the Western Bay Museum
Written by Pauline McCowan, Volunteer Researcher
The date, the postcard, World War 1 Silk, became part of our collection is lost in the mists of time. I met the postcard in June 2015 when my colleague Joan and I unpacked a box of ephemera. We were instantly intrigued by the romance and mystery that seemed possible emanating from this small article.
The soldier who wrote the card had not signed his name but used his service number and the ‘12’ at the beginning of the number was a clue to WW1. We searched the Auckland War Memorial Museum online cenotaph and found Sapper Thomas Maule. There is minimal information recorded on the cenotaph database but just enough to get us started.
Out of respect for this soldier, we electronically laid a poppy to the memory of Thomas and left a message on his record that we at the Western Bay Museum would love to hear from anyone who could cast light on this man and his story.
The postcard lay in its conservation envelope, the museum moved into new premises and apart from reading about Thomas on the cenotaph database, we did not forget Thomas, nor did we do much about his memory. Imagine our surprise and delight when Sue Baker Wilson contacted the museum in early 2024 and she wanted to talk about Thomas.
Sue gave us some information about Thomas who now became very real. Sue provided a photograph of a tunnel wall in Arras, France, that Thomas had signed and explained her relationship with the Carriere Wellington Museum in Arras, France and the news that people from this museum would be in New Zealand soon. Discussions began and ideas were explored as to what would now happen to the WW1 Silk from Thomas Maule to Miss B Sawyer.
Who were these two people and what had happened to them in the intervening years?
Thomas Maule was born 7 October 1861 as stated on his service record but there is a change to that date, stating 7 October 1875. He had adjusted his age to make himself eligible for enlistment. The top age being 41 years. The marks on his service record indicate the army did know Thomas was over the age limit. An obituary record also states that Thomas was over military age when he enlisted in 1915 and by that time he was a widower having married Alice Embling in 1894. Alice died in 1911. New Zealand Births, Deaths and Marriages has a death record for Vinie Alice Maule, 1 year old, died 1900, possibly a daughter. Thomas had three sons, one of whom joined the Australian Army and died on active service. The Auckland War Memorial Museum online database records Charles Maule as the son who enlisted in the Australian Army, Claude William Maule in the NZDF Army WW2 and Royce Embling Maule NZDF Army WW2. Their records share details in common re next of kin and geographical placements in common. Charles Maule died 4 May 1917. He was 24 years old. He is honoured at the Commonwealth War Graves Memorial Villers- Bretonneux, France and recorded has having no known grave.
Before enlistment Thomas was a timber worker in Dargaville, North Auckland, employed by H. Anderson. Thomas enlisted at Trentham, New Zealand on the 28th of October 1915. This was before compulsory conscription. He left New Zealand as a private in ‘A’ Company 9th Reinforcements and travelled to Moascar, Egypt, south of Cairo. From there he went to France now attached to the Australian Tunnelling Company, where his service record states he was ‘in the field.’ By October 1918 Thomas was detached to England on Duty Furlough, leave on full pay until such time as a ship was ready for the return to New Zealand. Thomas was discharged from the NZEF 22 May 1919, as ‘no longer physically fit for war service.’ There is more detail re Thomas’ war years on his service record.
Thomas was not the most obedient of soldiers. His record states he forfeited pay several times for neglecting orders and not turning up for inspection parades. The last of these incidents being at sea on the return to New Zealand.
Thomas now joined the staff of Ellis and Burnand, sawmilling and timber merchants in Ongarue, King Country, New Zealand. It would seem he remained in the King Country for the rest of his life. We don’t know if Thomas and Blanche ever met but they did live in much the same part of New Zealand before Blanche moved to the Waikato.
Thomas died 29 May 1930 in Taumarunui Hospital. He died from pneumonia. On the Notification of Death certificate his next of kin is recorded as being C.A.E. Maule Esq. Mangapehi. King Country. Thomas’ son, as stated for next of kin on the service record. An obituary in The New Zealand Herald, 4 June 1930 states, ‘the funeral took place in Taumarunui in the soldiers’ section of the cemetery, with full military honours, the pall bearers being six returned men. There was a large gathering of returned soldiers, headed by the president of the Taumarunui branch of the association.’
Thomas’ headstone calls him a Great War Veteran and records his age as 69 years. It was quite usual in those years for the government of the day to contribute to funeral costs. The memory of WW1, the Great War, still being very raw in people’s minds and hearts.
So, who was Miss B. Sawyer? We know from her wedding certificate that she was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. She was 20 years old when she married Archibald Webb, on the 25th of January 1922. Archibald was 23 years old. The postcard from Thomas was dated February 1918, four years before the wedding date so we can assume Blanche was 15-16 years old when she received this card. Both Archibald and Blanche resided in Ohakune where they married at St John’s Anglican Church.
It is very likely that Blanche was part of a group in the district that sent comfort parcels to the troops overseas. She may have knitted socks etc. or baked fruit cakes and biscuits as well as written letters and cards in a pen pal fashion to men she had never met. This was behaviour encouraged by the government and considered to be patriotic. Thomas was a great deal older than Blanche and his message to her is very formal and polite therefore indicating they did not know each other, and it was the proper way for an older man to address a young woman who was a stranger to him.
Blanche and Archibald moved from the King Country to the Waikato town of Cambridge where they owned a service station and garage, Webb’s Service Station Ltd. They retired to the Bay of Plenty and this is maybe how the postcard became part of the collection that now belongs to the Western Bay Museum. Blanche and Archibald have descendants living in the Waikato today and they are looking in family collections for photographs to share with us. So, the story lives on!
My friend and colleague Joan died October 2019 but her connection to this story continues. Joan left the museum a legacy that today pays for the work done by our Assistant Collection Manager, Carly Vevers. We honour the memory of Joan and the work she did for the museum.
We also need to acknowledge Blanche or an unknown member of her family who thought to donate the postcard to the collection that became Western Bay Museum. A small piece of cardboard and an interesting story that connects New Zealand and France all these years later.
