Eugene Paul Bennett

Eugene Paul Bennett VC MC (4 June 1892-6 April1970) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

He was 24 years old, and a Temporary Lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion, The Worcestershire Regiment, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 5 November 1916 near Le Transloy, France, Lieutenant Bennett was in command of the second wave of the attack, and finding that the first wave had suffered heavy casualties, its commander killed and the line wavering, he advanced at the head of the second wave and reached his objective with only 60 men. Isolated with his small party he took steps to consolidate his position under heavy rifle and machine-gun fire from both flanks, and although wounded he remained in command. But for his example of courage the attack would have been checked at the outset.

He later achieved the rank of Captain. Born Stroud, Gloucestershire 4th June 1892. After World War I, Bennett became a lawyer, being called to the bar in 1923, then serving as Prosecuting Counsel from 1931 to 1935 and a Metropolitan Magistrate from 1935 to his retirement in 1961. During World War II he served as an officer in the Air Training Corps of the RAF. He retired to Vicenza, in northern Italy, where he passed away at the age of 77.

His Victoria Cross is displayed at The Worcestershire Regiment Museum "(Worcester, Worcestershire, England)".

References

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10584097 Find a grave profile]
*Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
*VCs of the First World War - The Somme (Gerald Gliddon, 1994)