George Mathew Pennell, Jr.

George Jr. was born March 22, 1883. He was the son of George Mathew Pennell Sr. and Charlotte Edmunds of Rutherglen, Ontario. George Sr. was the brother of my grandmother, Alice Smith (nee Pennell).

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George is front row, far left.

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George joined the war effort February 25, 1916 with the 159th Overseas Battalion, 1st Algonquin and had belonged to the 97th Regiment of Active Militia. He sailed on the S. S. Empress on October 31, 1916 to England. On August 31, 1917, he was hospitalized for a schraple wound in his back and he received the Military Medal for bravery.    He later was transferred to the 58th Battalion. He was promoted from Private to Lance Corporal.
On August 27, 1918 George was killed in action with R.F.B. (Retained Foreign Bodies) and the family legacy was that he died at the Battle on Mons. In fact, George's sister, Emma, who married L.J. Rose, named her 10th child and first child after George's death, George Mons Rose (although we all knew him in Rutherglen as Jiggs).

However, the Battle of Mons took place in November 1918, months after George was killed. On August 21–30, 1918, the 58th Canadian Infantry Battalion was in Arras and specifically on August 27 they had just moved into Bois du Sart, France.  George was among 30 "other ranks" killed on the 27th.  There were many small battles in the Hundred Days Offensive that eventually lead up to the Battle of Mons, which ended the war on November 11, 1918.

"Whilst taking part in the advance North West of Boiry-Notre Dame, he was hit in the head and instantly killed by an enemy machine gun bullet." George is buried at the Vimy Ridge Cemetery in France.

Scroll the images below. The "M.M." beside George's name means he received a Military Medal.


Link to full army record (42 pages)
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