Lance Corporal Allan Bennett
- Rank
- Lance Corporal
- Service number
- 1602
- Unit
- 32 Battalion
- Cause of death
- Killed in Action
- Place of death
- Fromelles, France
- Date of death
- 20 July 1916
- Age
- 31
- Plaque number
- MC1A
- Co-located plaques
- MC1 - SGT Leonard Oliver
- MC1B - 2LT Percy Rodriguez
- Dedicated by
- Family on 15 February 2020
- More information
Biography presented during plaque dedication:
Lance Corporal Allan Bennett of 32 Battalion was born in July 1885 at Clunes in Victoria to Henry and Frances Bennett and there were seven sons and three daughters in the family.
He attended the Pleasant Street school at Wendouree and excelled at swimming, running and football.
In 1898 Henry, who was a mining engineer, moved the family to Western Australia and built the family home in Waroonga Road, Claremont.
Allan trained in accountancy before joining two of his brothers in a grocery business in Chester Road, Claremont. Then in 1911 he went to Kalgoorlie and opened Bennett and Tompkins General Store with his mate.
Allan enlisted in Kalgoorlie in July 1915 then went to Blackboy Military Camp for training and then was posted to 1 Reinforcement of 32 Battalion.
The battalion was originally raised in Adelaide with ‘A’ and ‘B’ companies with ‘C’ and ‘D’ companies from Perth. These two companies were transported to Adelaide on board HMAT Indarra and then in November embarked on HMAT Geelong bound for Suez.
The battalion then moved to Tel el Kebir camp in Egypt for further training.
Allan was appointed Lance Corporal in May 1916 and then in June embarked on HMT Transylvania for Marseilles and joined the fighting on the Western Front.
They took part in the fighting at Fromelles and suffered 718 casualties.
Lance Corporal Allan Bennett, service number 1602 of 32 Battalion, was killed in action at Fromelles on the 20 July 1916. He was 31 years of age.
He is remembered with honour at Pheasant Wood Military Cemetery, Fromelles, Lille, Nord Pas de Calais, France.
His plaque is placed alongside his relatives, Sergeant Leonard Douglas Oliver and Second Lieutenant Percy John Rodriguez.