LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Arthur Charles BENNETT
Service No: 402217
Born: Coogee NSW, 28 April 1913
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 July 1940
Unit: No. 7 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Oakington
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 7 Squadron Stirling aircraft W7445), Oakington, 15 November 1941, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Hastings Bennett and Hilda Bennett; husband of Gwendoline Robina Bennett, of Binda, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Goulburn NSW
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Goulburn-Mulwaree Honour Roll 1939-1972, Goulburn NSW
At 2230 hours on the night of 15 November 1941 Stirling W7445 took off from Oakington to bomb Kiel, Germany. Following take-off the aircraft crashed almost immediately into a house. Glazed ice on the windscreen was a contributory factor in this crash.
The crew members of W7445 were:
Sergeant A J Ansell (1169721) (RAF) Injured
Sergeant Arthur Charles Bennett (402217) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Thomas Bentham (1057074) (RAFVR) Injured, Killed on Air Operations 21 December 1942
Sergeant William Helliwell (940014) (RAFVR) Injured, Killed on Air Operations: 20 May 1942
Sergeant William Peel Hudson (1378108) (RAFVR) Injured, Killed on Air Operations 8 March 1943
Sergeant Ian Hamish Hunter (403549) (RNZAF) (Pilot) Fatally injured, Died: 16 November 1941
Sergeant W D Topping (RAF) Injured
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/91/135
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line