From historical times Pennington was a tithing within the parish of Milford until, in 1839, it was created a separate ecclesiastical parish. It became a separate civil parish in 1910. At the end of the Great War the Parish Council caused a War Memorial to be erected in St Mark's Churchyard commemorating those villagers who died in the 1914-1918 War. In 1932 Pennington was absorbed into the Borough of Lymington and in 1974 it became the Lymington and Pennington Town Council. So when it was decided, in 1990, to add the names of those who died in the Second World War onto Lymington War Memorial, Pennington names of its men who died between 1939-1945 were naturally included.

The reason why this book has been written is therefore to ensure that Pennington's outstanding support of the Great War continues to be remembered.

In 1914 Pennington was a small village of about 809 people, living in 202 houses. Of this small number, by the year's end 94 men were serving in the Army or Royal Navy and by March 1915 the number was nearer 120. Given conscription, by the end of the war the number would have risen to about 160 men in uniform.

This book is about the families as well as the men who died. Not all – like the Hamptons – had seven members at war, but many families had more than one. Thirty-six villagers did not return. Twenty-seven are recorded on the Memorial. A further nine are not so honoured, but all are researched in this book. Statistically twice that number would have returned wounded or incapacitated for various reasons. Given the closeness of this small community, the impact of the Great War must have been enormous.

We hope that this book will freshen memories of those who died and give focus to the Remembrance Service, reverently held each year, at St Mark's Church.