Arthur E PENNINGTON

[Guest sheilatho]

In amongst some family memorabilia passed to me recently I have a medal with the following engraved on the edge '138022 GNR A.E. PENNINGTON RA'. I think it's a British but it could be a Victory - he was issued with both according to his medal card. The card gives his first name as Arthur and the medal roll as RFA/281B. I assume this means 261st Battery.

A evening on the Internet has revealed a few details about 261st battery but nothing about Mr Pennington.

To the best of my knowledge, and as genealogy is a hobby that knowledge goes quite far, he is not a member of my family. I have no idea how the medal came to be amongt my late father's effects but suspect it may originially have been amongst my grandfathers bit and bobs - he fought in WW1.

I am interested in finding out anything I can about Arthur Pennington. Why we should have his medal is a complete mystery, which I would love to solve! I would also be quite happy to pass the medal on to a member of his family.

Sheila

[Stephen Nulty]

Any of these look like they could be your man?

Arthur Edward Pennington, birth registered Q4/1884, Warrington

Arthur Edward Pennington, birth registered Q3/1903, Prescot (my home town!)

Arthur Ernest Pennington, birth registered Q3/1884, Birmingham

Arthur Ernest Pennington, birth registered Q2/1896, Prescot

[Guest sheilatho]

Thanks for the info. The catch is he could be any of them. And none of those locations are particularly meaningful to my family.

I was hoping someone might have information from the regiment that would allow me to work backwards. As I live in the North of Scotland a quick trip to Kew or similar to look up the medal roll is not really practical!

I did check CWGC website, and he's not there, which suggests that he survived the war. A quick look at the 1901 census shows that the Pennington name comes from predominantly Lancashire. None of this, unfortunately, gets me any further.

Very frustrating.

Sheila

[Aaron Nelson]

Sheila,

The 281b on the Medal card unfortunatey does not indicate that he was in the 281st Brigade. The 281b is an indexing indicator showing where his details are relating to his medals in the medal roles.

Sometimes you can tell which unit he served in by his service serial number, I have seen threads on this site previously where a serial number has been given and the unit derived from that.

Theres bound to be an expert amongst the pals here who may be able to assist you this way.

Best regards Aaron.