BENNETT, Kenneth Jack
| Service Numbers: | Ve322734, 401409, Ve322734, |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 April 1939 |
| Last Rank: | Flying Officer |
| Last Unit: | 21st (VIC) Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) |
| Born: | Geelong, Victoria, Australia, 28 November 1917 |
| Home Town: | Geelong, Greater Geelong, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Manager - Garage and Service Station |
| Died: | Flying Battle, Aegean Sea, 3 January 1943, aged 25 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" ALAMEIN MEMORIAL Column 272. Egypt |
| Memorials: | Alamein Memorial (El Alamein), Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 2 Service
| 4 Apr 1939: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, Ve322734, 24th (VIC) Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Flying Officer, 401409 | |
| 29 Feb 1940: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, Ve322734,, 21st (VIC) Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) | |
| 3 Feb 1941: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 401409 | |
| 17 Oct 1941: | Embarked Royal Australian Air Force, 401409, 70 Operational Training Unit (OTU) Kenya |
Help us honour Kenneth Jack Bennett's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by David Barlow
Flying Officer Kenneth Jack Bennett 401409 was killed when Marauder MK375 ["Dominion Revenge"] of 14 Squadron RAF crashed in the Aegean Sea - his body was not recovered and he is commemorated on the Alamein Memorial
The aircraft was reported missing after an attack on a German shipping convoy off Aghios Giorgios Island - probably shot down by an Me 110
A painting of this aircraft’s final action was made by Lord Deramore (Arthur de Yarburgh-Bateson, or Flight Sergeant Tony Bateson as he was known on the Squadron)
Crew killed: Ray, Dudley Thomas (Flight Sergeant) 403029 RNZAF / Hunt, Stanley (Sergeant) 1238830 RAF / Meadwell, Edward Arthur (Flight Sergeant) 1066549 RAF /
Foley-Brickley, James Ernest (Flying Officer) 126991 RAF
Biography contributed by Chris Buckley
Flying Officer Kenneth Jack Bennett (Service No:401409) initially served in the Militia (Corporal; Service No:Ve322734) with 24th and 21/23rd Battalions VDC from 4 April 1939 to 29 April 1940. He enlisted in the RAAF at No 1 Recruiting Centre Melbourne as Air Crew II on 3 February 1941 and during that year attended No 1 Initial Training School (ITS) Somers, No 1 Wireless and Gunnery School (WAGS) Ballarat and No 2 Bombing and Air Gunnery School (BAGS) Port Pirie. In October 1941 Warrant Officer Bennett embarked for the Middle East, where he was stationed at 103 Maintenance Unit (MU) Aboukir and 70 Operational Training Unit (OTU) RAF at Nakaru in Kenya. Flying Officer Bennet joined 14 Squadron in the UK, and on 3 January 1943 was crew in Marauder FK375 on operations against enemy shipping in the Aegean Sea. His plane was shot down near Seriphos Island. Captain Young wrote 'When I had freed myself and got out of the aircraft I saw Bennett sitting on top of the fuselage near the escape hatch. He shouted to me that observer, PO Foley-Brickley, was still inside and climbed back in to try and get him out. No sooner had he climbed back in than the aircraft sank going down nose first with a rush. Bennett must have been trapped inside as he never appeared again. Thus he died in a brave attempt to rescue another member of the crew'. (NAA).
Kenenth was born in Geelong, Victoria in 1917, eldest of five children of Samuel Charles Bennett (b1894 in Highton, Victoria) and Frances (Fannie) Severn Jones (b1891 in Otago, New Zealand). Samuel worked in Geelong, Victoria as a Slaughterman before moving to Otago, New Zealand in 1916, where he was working as a Slaughterman in 1917 when he and Fannie married. By late 1917 Samuel and Fannie were in Geelong, Victoria where Samuel worked as a Slaughterman, returning to New Zealand in early 1921 and back to Geelong in 1924. Samuel worked as a Slaughterman, Clerk, and Skin Dealer/Skin and Waste Merchant in Geelong.
Kenneth started work as a Clerk, and in 1940 was Manager of a Garage/Service Station (Beaurepairs) in Geelong. In his Attestaion Papers Kenneth identified his father as his NoK, with q request that Miss D J Moreland of Melbourne, Victoria also be notified in case of injury or death. Kenneth's siblings - Charles and Maxwell - also served in the RAAF in WWII.