Member of the Most Excellent Order M.B.E. Civil Division; 1914-15 Star (4163 TPTR. H.T. PENNY. R.F.,A.); British War Medal (4163 GNR. H.C. PENNY. R.A.); Victory Medal (4163 GNR. H.C. PENNY. R.A.); Defence Medal; Civil Defence Long Service Medal - unnamed as awarded. The M.B.E. and C.D.L.S.M are both in their original boxes of issue. Please note the variation in initials on the WWI medals.
Hugh Cowan Penny was born in Maxwelltown, Kirkcudbright in 1896. He was employed as a Gardener by Admiral McClure before attesting with the 2nd Lowland Bde RFA/RA as a Trumpeter in 1911. He saw service in Egypt disembarking at Port Said on 23.6.1915 and was discharged to the Reserve on 26.8.1919. He re-engaged with the Territorial Force (315th Kircudbright Battery, R.F.A.) in 1921 and rose to the rank of Sergeant but reverted to the rank of Gunner on 11.6.1923 "Certified not in order to escape trial by Court Martial."
He was awarded the M.B.E. in the LG of 9 January 1946 for his work as the Air Raid Precaution Training Officer for the County of Kirkcudbright, a role he had fulfilled from before the war began.
An article in the Dumfries and Galloway Standard of 25 May 1940 pertaining to his role as an A.R.P. man read, "Stewartry Accident - Charge against A.R.P. Officer Not Proven - Reference to the difficulty of driving and estimating speeds and distances during black-out hours was made on Thursday during the hearing of a case where a charge of careless driving was preferred against Hugh Cowan Penny, County A.R.P. Officer for the Stewartry, Bogra Cottage, Tongland. The charge against repsondent was that on 7 April 1940, on the public road between Castle-Douglas and Gatehouse, and on a part thereof opposite the farm lands of Ford, Balmaghie, he had driven a motor car without due care and attaention and permitted it to collide with a motor cycle then being driven by Joseph Edward Steel, mechanic. whereby Steel and his pillion passenger, received injury and the said motor cycle was damaged. A pleas of not guilty was tendered."
The Scots Magazine of 1 March 1952, after he had been awarded the M.B.E., carried the following article:
"Like other Civil Defence officers in Scotland, Mr Hugh C Penny, M.B.E., who is responsible for the the great tract of land between Langholm and Stranraer and from Kirkcudbright to Kirkconnel, finds public apathy his greatest obstacle. And he is constantly coming up against World War II graduates who are convinced they learned all the answers between 1939 and 1945.
Prinicipal reason for Mr Penny's success in bringing in so many recruits is that he follows up nearly every enquiry with a personal visit. A five minute talk with a man or woman, he maintains, is worth a dozen neatly typed letters. Certainly it is where Mr Penny is concerned, for his sincerity and enthusiasm for his work are so apparent that few can resist his invitation to sign on.
On top of that, Mr Penny is a born organiser; with well over 100 miles separating the eastern and western extremities of his division he would need to be! Nearly every month his speedometer clocks some 1500 miles."
Penny died on 5 November 1979 in the Royal Infirmary, Dumfries, Dumfries-shire
Medals are in good condition unless otherwise indicated. Sold with some copied research.
