Royal Navy, Service no. P/JX385089
Born: 30th November 1923. Son of Edwin Bennett and Eleanor Smith
Killed in action: 12th July 1943, in Italy, aged 19
Story
William was the youngest child of Edwin Bennett (1873-1944) and Eleanor Smith (1880-1969), and they lived at 5 Roger’s Fold before the War. William worked as a runabout for a Tailor. His cousin Herbert Tasker was also killed in the War, and his brother Edwin also served.
William trained at HSM Quebec. This was not a ship, it was rather the Combined Operations training centre at Inveraray, Scotland, for Royal Navy Commandos. Their job was to land in the first waves of amphibious assaults, mark the limits of the beachheads, clear enemy positions if necessary, direct and moor incoming landing craft, prevent bottlenecks on the beaches and maximise the flow of personnel, vehicles and supplies, remove mines and underwater obstructions, tape safe passage routes off the beaches, aid the evacuation of the wounded, inform subsequent waves of important intelligence about the enemy strengths and positions, help set up ammunition and supply dumps, and supervise enemy prisoners.
William was killed during the Allied invasion of Sicily (pictured below), codenamed Operation Husky, which began on 9th July 1943. This operation was famously disguised by Operation Mincemeat, when the British allowed a corpse, disguised as a British Royal Marines officer, to drift ashore in Spain carrying a briefcase containing fake secret documents. The documents purported to reveal that the Allies were planning “Operation Brimstone” and that “Operation Husky” was an invasion of Greece. German intelligence accepted the authenticity of the documents and the Germans diverted much of their defensive effort from Sicily to Greece.
William is buried at the Catania War Cemetery, Sicily, II. F. 39.
Kippax Roll of Honour 