Richard Arthur PENNY [1920-1942]

Submitted by Aldi on
Names
Given
Richard Arthur
Family
Penny
Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
Born
Date
Died
Date
Cause of death
Drowned at sea on the Lisbon Maru
[Updated 13/Nov/2026]
 
Find a Grave
 
From the Sai Wan Memorial, Chai Wan, Hong Kong Island.

Inscription

Richard A Penny, Service Number: 6207076. Middlesex Regiment. 1st Bn. Died Between 01 October 1942 and 02 October 1942. Age 22 years old. Son of Richard and Elsie Penny; husband of Winifred Penny, of Hong Kong.

Connections: This person is ...
Spouse of
Winifred Agnes PENNY (née ROBINSON, aka Bonnie) [1905-2005]

Photos that show this Person

Richard Penny
1940s

Comments

[Updated 14/Nov/2026)

Richard Penny was the son of (Duncan) Richard and Elsie Penny.  Born in 1920, he came from Worcester and had 4 siblings.

He was serving as a private in the armed forces, 1st Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, who were posted to Hong Kong in 1937. At that time the battalion had recently been converted into a machine-gun battalion and it became part of the colony's garrison.  Penny may have gone with them then or was posted later.

The battalion remained in Hong Kong from 1937 until the Japanese invasion in December 1941. 

During this time Penny met and married Bonnie Robinson, who was some years older.  
 
During the Battle of Hong Kong, the Middlesex Regiment suffered heavy casualties.  Penny was captured following the surrender on 25th December 1941.
 

Most soldiers of the 1st Middlesex captured in December 1941 were held initially at North Point Camp, then transferred to Sham Shui Po Camp.

In September 1942, Penny was selected for transport to Japan aboard the Lisbon Maru.

The Lisbon Maru POWs were marked for Kobe work camps, but the ship was torpedoed by the US submarine Grouper on 1st October, just off the Chu San Islands south of Shanghai. 

After the Japanese had abandoned ship, most of the prisoners managed to free themselves, but still about 820 men died during or after the sinking, others died in the Japanese work camps. 748 men survived and returned home after the war.  See links two posts below for the eye witness accounts.

Richard Penny is recorded as drowned*.  As the ship took 27 hours to go down, Penny's date of death was somewhere between the 1st and 2nd October.  

The Japanese record shows that the British authorities and Penny's next of kin (Mrs Penny) were notified of his death in Hong Kong, and compensation paid.

He was aged 22.

 

*See Tse Dickuan's list of POWs. Page 4 #523.                                                                                                                     '2D' indicates the 2nd draft to Japan (Kobe).  D = Drowned.

Sources: Various.

National Army Museum with picture.

 

I've had a look in the Chronology for 1942 but can't find the sinking of the Lisbon Maru.  Is that something that could go in?