Description:Tom was born into a coal mining family in Norton Canes in 1889, the oldest son in a family of eleven children. The family moved to Cannock after 1900.
Tom served in the First World War in the Royal Field Artillery as a Gunner (equivalent to Private) and later as Lance Bombardier (equivalent of Lance Corporal).
Tom suffered from a fractured arm from a shell in November 1916 requiring treatment at Huddersfield Hospital. For this, he earned his first wounded stripe.
Tom married Marie 'Daisy' Griffiths in Stafford in May 1917.
In November 1917, he suffered a more serious injury from mustard gas in Langemark, Belgium. This required a long period of treatment in Eastbourne, Hastings, and Walsall hospitals. He was never able to resume active service and was still receiving inpatient treatment for his gas burns in mid-1921. For this, he earned his second wound stripe.
His son Colin Penton (born 1919) was a well-known musician in the Cannock area and played piano in a dance band in the 1950s and 1960s.