LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Arthur Godfrey BENNETT
From Australia serving in the Royal New Zealand Air Force
Service No: 412861 (RNZAF)
Born: Location, Date unavailable
Enlisted in the RNZAF: Date unavailable
Unit: No. 200 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: Crisis in the Atlantic (No. 200 Squadron Liberator aircraft BZ832), Atlantic Ocean, 11 August 1943, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Arthur and Miriam May Bennett, of Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 12, Column 2, Malta Memorial, Malta
Remembered: Commemorative Roll, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On an anti-submarine patrol on 11 August 1943, Liberator BZ382 was shot down by U-468 about 400 km south-west of Dakar, French West Africa.
The crew members of BZ832 were:
Flight Sergeant Arthur Godfrey Bennett (412861) (RNZAF)
Pilot Officer Richard Albert Bonnick (158149) (RAFVR)
Flight Sergeant Laurence James Frost (414872) (RNZAF)
Flying Officer George Nicholas Goodwin (J/14450) (RCAF)
Flying Officer Ivan Marinovich (413103) (RNZAF) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Terence John Soper (412908) (RNZAF)
Flying Officer John Eric James Townsend BEM (130317) (RAFVR) (Co-Pilot)
Flying Officer Lloyd Allan Trigg VC DFC (413515) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Trigg was awarded the Victoria Cross as the result of this action. U-468 was damaged in the battle and sank soon afterwards with the loss of 42 crew members. Seven crew members from U-468 were rescued the following day by the Royal Navy and their report resulted in the nomination for the Victoria Cross.
References:
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Website: LostAircraft.com