John Henry Bennett

My father, John Henry Bennett, was born in Liverpool on March 9 1926. An only son, he volunteered for the Royal Navy aged 17.5 years in 1943. His Naval number was DJX697494.

He served on HMS Empress which was a Lend-Lease American ship. Apparently the bunks were all removed for British sailors and replaced by hammocks. He also served on the Destroyer HMS Wrangler which sailed from Rosyth.

At some stage he was drafted from the Navy to the Army, though we are not sure why or when. His photograph shows him in Army khaki taken in what was Ceylon at a Rest Camp in 1945. On the back of the photo he has written that HMS Empress was part of 21st A/CAG Aircraft Carrier Assault Group with the 3rd Battle Squadron.

We have a crossing the line certificate from HMS Empress dated 18 October 1945. We know the ship went on a 'Good Will' tour once hostilities ended because they stopped in New Zealand, a country which greatly impressed him.

We know that my father was in Burma and ‘on land’ though we do not know when or why. We know he witnessed the release of Japanese Prisoners of War, which disturbed him for the rest of his life.

We know that my father suffered from recurrent tropical infections whilst in the Far East leading to problems on his return and for the rest of his life. The results of these infections were said to have contributed to his early death from bowel cancer in 1983 aged 56 years. 

My father was demobbed in 1946 and was said by my mother to be emaciated in build. He returned to his pre war job as a Post Office Draftsman, but never really settled.

He married my mother Dora, who grew up in the same Liverpool road as him, in 1948. She survives him, and now in her 97th year, she has helped me write this short piece.