Gordon Bennett (general)

Lieutenant General Henry Gordon Bennett, CB, CMG, DSO, VD (15 April 1887 – 1 August 1962) was a senior Australian Army officer who served in both World War I and World War II. A citizen soldier by background, Bennett began his professional life in the insurance industry and joined the Army on a part-time basis. During World War I, he rose rapidly through the ranks, commanding at both battalion and brigade level. He became the youngest general in the Australian Army and was highly decorated for his leadership and gallantry on the Western Front. After the war, he returned to civilian life, continuing his military service in a part-time capacity and holding senior command appointments within the Citizen Military Forces.

Bennett is most widely remembered for his role in the Fall of Singapore in February 1942 during World War II. As commander of the 8th Australian Division, he was among the senior Allied officers present when the British-led garrison surrendered to the advancing Japanese forces. Instead of surrendering, Bennett escaped to Sumatra and later returned to Australia, claiming he had done so to avoid capture and report directly to Australian authorities. He believed that he could better serve the war effort from outside captivity. His decision meant that his soldiers, who were taken as prisoners of war (POW) by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), endured harsh conditions and many perished in captivity. Bennett's actions were met with widespread public and military criticism, seen by many as a breach of duty and a failure of command.

In 1945, both a Royal Commission and a military inquiry were convened to investigate the circumstances of his departure from Singapore. They concluded that he had not been justified in relinquishing his command. Although he was subsequently appointed to a corps-level post in Australia, he was never again entrusted with leading troops in combat. After retiring from the Army at the end of the war, Bennett turned to farming in the Hills District outside Sydney. He remained active in business circles and contributed regularly as a military commentator. The controversy surrounding his wartime decisions continued to shape his public image until his death in 1962 at the age of 75.

Bennett (who was always known as Gordon) was born in Balwyn, Melbourne, on 15 April 1887, to George Bennett, a South African-born school teacher, and his Australian-born wife, Harriet. He was the sixth of nine children and attended Balwyn State School, where his father taught, and then Hawthorn College as a teenager having been given a three-year scholarship. While at Hawthorn, he did well at mathematics and in 1903, as a 16-year-old, after completing a competitive examination he was accepted into the AMP Society to train as an actuary. In May 1908, just after he turned 21, Bennett volunteered to serve in the Militia, Australia's reserve military force, joining the 5th Australian Infantry Regiment as a "recruit officer". After completing a six-month part-time course, he was appointed as a provisional second lieutenant, and posted to the regiment's 'B' Company, in Carlton, Victoria. He continued to work at AMP during this time, but devoted most of his spare time to his military duties and rose in rank quickly, reaching major in 1912, at the age of 25, when he became adjutant of his regiment.

At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Bennett volunteered to serve with the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and, after securing his release from AMP on full pay, was appointed second-in-command of the 6th Battalion, which was part of the 2nd (Victorian) Infantry Brigade, assigned to the 1st Division. After a short period of training, the 1st Division began to embark for Europe. Just prior to his departure overseas, Bennett became engaged to Bess Agnes Buchanan, whom he had met at a dance in Canterbury. As an engagement gift, Bess bought her betrothed a miniature photo of herself, set in a gold frame. Bennett carried the picture in his jacket pocket while serving overseas and it later saved his life on the Western Front, deflecting a German bullet.

While in transit, as a result of overcrowding in training camps in the United Kingdom, the 1st Division was diverted to Egypt with the intention that it would complete its training there before moving to the Western Front at a later date. The decision by the Allies to force a passage through the Dardanelles interrupted this process, as the 1st Division was allocated to take part in the Gallipoli Campaign. During the landing at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915, Bennett fought on the southern flank of the Anzac beachhead. He led 300 men of his battalion to an advanced position on Pine Ridge, south of Lone Pine. While directing the defence of this position, Bennett was wounded in the shoulder and wrist and forced to retire to the beach for treatment. When the Turkish forces counter-attacked in the evening, the 6th Battalion force on Pine Ridge was isolated and killed to the last man, including Bennett's younger brother, Godfrey. Instead of accepting evacuation on a hospital ship, after having his wounds treated, Bennett returned to his battalion.

In early May, the 2nd Brigade was selected to move to Cape Helles to reinforce the British forces for the Second Battle of Krithia. After being transferred by boat, on 8 May, Bennett advanced with his battalion in impossible conditions. Bennett was the only officer of the 6th, and one of few in the 2nd Brigade, to survive the advance unscathed, although he was lucky do so; as he led the charge, a Turkish bullet hit the ammunition pouch he wore, exploding the ammunition in it. He was knocked off his feet, but otherwise unharmed. With a handful of men, he achieved the furthest advance of the attack. He became commander of the 6th Battalion the next day. The battalion was then returned to Anzac by a trawler, and shortly afterwards, Bennett's command of the battalion was confirmed and he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.

Throughout June and July, Bennett's battalion occupied the front line during a period of reduced tempo fighting as a stalemate developed. On 7 August, when the Allies launched their August Offensive to break the stalemate, the 6th Battalion was involved in one of the supporting attacks at the start of the Battle of Sari Bair. While the best known attack was made by the 3rd Light Horse Brigade at the Nek, the 6th was required to make a similar attack against a neighbouring Turkish position known as German Officers' Trench from which machine guns enfiladed the Australian positions as far north as the Nek. Two attempts to capture the trench failed. A third attempt was organised and Bennett resolved to lead it himself but the commander of the 1st Division, Major General Harold Walker, after consulting with the corps commander, Lieutenant General William Birdwood, agreed to abandon the attack. The 6th Battalion's losses totalled 80 killed and 66 wounded.