Albert Henry Penn





The Cemetery Lodge (picture from SWOP website)

Albert Henry Penn's grave in High Wycombe Cemetery





Albert Henry Penn 1889/90 - 1918

I am Albert Henry Penn and I was born in Dalston, Middlesex about 1889/90. Dalston was then within the Parish of Hackney, London.

I enlisted at Shoreditch on 6th January 1915 and served on the Western Front in France with the 4th Battalion London Regiment. The UK WW1 Service Medal Award Rolls list my service as from 6th January 1915 to 4th June 1915 and then from 8th August 1916 to 27th December 1917. I put my mother’s name, Mary, as my next of kin.

The 4th Battalion. London Regiment were re-numbered in 1917 so my previous service number of 2143 became 280421 under the new system. My battalion served in many of the main battles in France and suffered many casualties.

I was a casualty in France in 1915 and was a patient at the 4th General Hospital which was one of the Base Hospitals. These were part of the casualty evacuation chain but were further back from the front line unlike the Casualty Clearing Stations and were most often found near a port for quick evacuation home to England if longer treatment was needed. I was admitted to St Nazaire, 4th General on 24th April 1915.

My rank was listed as Sergeant at this time. I was later transferred to Rouen for convalescence, and suffering from scabies, on 16th May 1915. There is then a long break in my service record so that it is likely that I was considered unfit for active service until 8th August 1916.

I suffered badly from the results of a gas attack and died from gas poisoning at a war hospital in Warrington, Cheshire (previously in Lancashire) on 17th September 1918 and was buried in High Wycombe Cemetery on 23rd September 1918. My address was given as 1, Mill Street, High Wycombe.

After my death the first War Gratuity was paid to Messrs Hull, Loosley & Pearce who were the undertakers in High Wycombe. A second War Gratuity was paid to my mother. Sadly my medals were returned to the Medal Office but later reclaimed by a member of my family in 1923.



Researched by Ruth Bowler, Flackwell Local Area History Group

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