Bennett, RM

(1900 - 1918)

Bennett, RM Profile Picture

Key Facts

DATE OF BIRTH:

12th February 1900

YEARS ATTENDED THE COLLEGE:

1913 - 1917

HOME ADDRESS WHEN AT THE COLLEGE:

Corner House, Beckenham

REGIMENT

Royal Air Force

FINAL RANK:

Lieutenant

DATE OF DEATH:

28th September 1918

AGE AT DEATH:

18

WHERE HE DIED (or was wounded)

Houthem, Belgium

LOCATION OF GRAVE OR MEMORIAL:

Arras Flying Services Memorial

Lieutenant Risdon Mackenzie Bennett

Risdon was born in Kent on February 12th 1900, the son of Dr. James Bennett and his wife Lucy. He at first attended the Prep before coming to the College in December of 1913, a path which his younger brother Arnold would repeat three years later.

He left Dulwich at the end of 1917 and signed up for the Royal Naval Air Service, and proceeded to undergo training at Greenwich, Eastbourne, Cranwell and Friston in order to qualify as a pilot. In June 1918, having qualified, he was transferred to the continent, and attached to the 204th Squadron of the R.A.F. Over the next few months he shot down nine enemy aircraft, including notably in an incident on the 31st July, in which he flew twenty miles back to his aerodrome after having been wounded whilst bringing down his target. On September 28th he was acting as an escort for a group of bombers returning from a raid on Zeebrugge when he was caught in a storm and crashed in No Man’s Land. His body, along with the wreckage of his plane, was found several days later.

Top