Henry Charles FENN [8802]

  General Notes:

British Army WWI Pensions.
His occupation was described as both a "Millwright" and a "fitter"
- He initially joined the 55th Divisional Artillery Company of the Royal Field Artillery as a gunner, service number 895143 and was sent to France in November 1915. At some stage he was posted to the 54th D.A.C. This places him in France on the Western Front for most of the war immediately after enlisting on 8th May 1915. As a field company they probably would have used the 18 pdr field gun (the same as the RA still uses for firing salutes) and it would have been very hazardous as they would have been frequent targets of German gas attacks.
- He was granted leave on several instances - these were probably 6-monthly leaves that were granted (with an exception at the time of the Somme), but if you are trying to pin down a death in the family then maybe you could look around those periods, particularly the 31/8/1918, just in case.
- His military service stopped ("disembodied") on 4 March 1919, after he'd been transferred back to Thetford in Jan 1919. His home address was 24 Orwell Rd, Ipswich
- His next of kin was Mrs N Fenn, also of 24 Orwell Rd
When he left the army he had not sought any treatment, although he asked for a war pension as a result of rheumatism, in April 1920, at the ripe age of 25. The medical board dismissed his claim, and thought that he was very fit and had no reason to blame any complaint on his war service. (War pensions were a new invention, although Government guidance to these medical boards was quite strict. Even if he had been found to have picked up the complaint in service, from other cases it is quite likely that they would not have awarded a pension unless it was so visibly bad that it stopped him working.)

Henry married Norah STOWE [8765] [MRIN: 2923] 1st Qtr 1918 in Ipswich, SFK. (Norah STOWE [8765] was born 1st Qtr 1897 in Ipswich, SFK.)