Regiment: Suffolk Regiment, 12th Battalion, 40th Division
Service No: 27850
Date & place of birth: Petworth, July-September 1892
Date & place of death: 11 July 1916 (aged 24), Western Front
For some reason Private William Standing Penfold had formerly been in the Middlesex Regiment despite having enlisted in Guildford (normally the recruiting centre for East Surreys). Most of the Petworth men stayed in the same regiment throughout their time in the war – there was generally no reason to transfer men.
Family background
William Penfold was born and raised in Petworth where his father (also William) was one of several local butchers the town then supported. His mother was named Lucy and by the 1911 census she had 13 children still living, of whom 6 boys and 1 girl were resident at their home in Pound Street (possibly over the shop.) Photographs exist of the Penfold Butchers shop from the early C20 (see Petworth Society magazines.) In 1911 William Standing Penfold was recorded as still living in Pound Street and working as a miller journeyman (possibly at the large mill on the Rother at Coultershaw Bridge.)
Military service
William enlisted in Guildford. We do not have record of his service with the Middlesex regiment. In 1916 his battalion was fighting in the Battle of the Ancre.
Death and commemoration
Private William Standing Penrose was killed in action during the Battle of the Ancre on 11 July 1916 aged 26. He is buried in the Maroc British Cemetery, Grenay.