CYRIL ARTHUR BENNETT (1895-1981)
Cyril Arthur Bennett was one of Western Australia’s most distinguished soldiers, serving in the Medical Corps. He is one of the few people to serve in both the First and Second World Wars.
He was born in Fremantle, on 25 September 1895 to Phillip Bennett and Lucy Hancock. His parents were born in Victoria, had married in Tasmania in 1891, and Cyril was one of ten children. (reference) Cyril attended Fremantle Boys’ School and, in 1909, was awarded Dux of the School, winning the Headmaster’s special prize. (reference). He worked as a clerk in the family’s grocery business, Bennett and Burnside, in Fremantle.(reference)
In 1914 Cyril enlisted in the Medical Corps, was assigned as a private to the 2nd Australian Stationary Hospital (ASH), and departed Fremantle in December 1914. (reference) The 2nd ASH sailed to Egypt, quickly establishing medical facilities at Mena Camp, outside Cairo, to accommodate outbreaks of disease and infection. By April 1915 the unit had relocated to Lemnos Island to care for injured soldiers coming from the first weeks of the Gallipoli campaign. The horrendous outcome of heavy casualties at Gallipoli saw hospital ships engage in the critical evacuation of thousands of wounded from Gaba Tepe on the Peninsula to Malta and Alexandria (reference) (see photo of Pte Bennett in Egypt). In a sad twist of fate his brother Roy Bennett had joined the 10th Light Horse Regiment in 1915 and, later that year, died of wounds from the August assault on Hill 60, Gallipoli. (reference)
In 1916 Cyril was promoted to corporal. Cyril’s only daughter Sue Bennett-Ng, 64, recalled her father had a strong admiration for the Turks, calling them ‘honourable’, and also a disdain for Winston Churchill and his blunders in regards to the failed Gallipoli campaign. She recalls that despite his impressive military record, Cyril opposed conscription.
“During the First World War there was a referendum conducted and I remember dad saying all his mates at Gallipoli voted against it because none of them wanted young people sent to war against their will,” Mrs Bennett-Ng said. (reference)
In 1917 Cyril was promoted to sergeant and, in 1919, returned to Australia. He returned to the family business for a short time before moving to Melbourne for work. In 1925 Cyril married Sheila Lillian Harvey, after which they returned to WA and Cyril took up a position of Chief Steward for State Steamship Line. In 1928 their first son Phillip was born. Phillip followed in his father's military footsteps and was accepted into the Royal Military College Duntroon. (reference). Phillip eventually reached the rank of general and Chief of the Defence Force and, after retiring, went on to become Governor of Tasmania. A second son, Peter, followed in 1930. Peter also attended Duntroon, choosing to pursue a post war career with the RAAF as a navigator. (reference)
In 1929 Cyril was charged with driving under the influence. His defence lawyer argued that Cyril suffered from the effects of injuries received during the war, his gait being at times unsteady and, although he had had five drinks during the day, he was not under the influence at the time of the alleged offence. No further action was taken (reference).
In 1940, during WWII, Cyril re-enlisted, returning to the 2nd AIF’s Medical Corps at the rank of lieutenant, assigned to the 8th Casualty Clearing Station. One factor influencing his re-enlistment was that employment was scarce at the time and the Defence Forces ‘’guaranteed a job’’ (see private correspondence) and In 1941 Cyril was promoted to captain.
In 1946, on his return to Australia, Cyril discovered his wife Sheila had bought 28 Alexandra Road, East Fremantle, close to his mother at 27 Alexandra Road, in 1945. After the war he worked as an accounting officer with the Ordnance Depot in Midland.
He faced with a difficult situation when the Vietnam War began, Mrs Bennett-Ng explains:“…when he was quite an old man, my brother Phillip was leading the first task force into Vietnam while I was protesting on the streets in Perth as part of the moratorium,” she said. “He supported me in that, as well as Phillip, which must have been hard for him.”
Phillip was the first Australian casualty in Korea (wounded) Oct 1950. (reference)
Cyril died in 1981, aged 87.
We are grateful to the correspondence exchanged between Sue Bennett-Ng (Cyril’s daughter) and Anthony Lazzarich of 22 July 2019.
Research by Lloyd McClure and Anthony Lazzarich.
