Stanley Bennett
was from Corner Brook, Newfoundland. He lost his life on May 11, 1942 when the Royal Navy trawler HMS Bedfordshire was torpedoed by U-Boat 558 under the command of skipper Gunter Krech.
His body, along with 3 others, washed ashore and was buried somewhere in England. Other than this his family have very little information on him and his nephew is currently looking for information.
If anyone knew Stanley and can provide any information at all, it would be very appreciated if you could contact me at the address below. Thank you.
UPDATE:
Search of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Registry identified his ship as the H.M. Trawler Bedfordshire
Thanks to Sidney Allinson, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, who has provided some helpful information in this search, as follows:
- A search of the Canadian War Graves Commission Registry indicates that the H.M. Trawler Bedfordshire, part of the Royal Naval Patrol Service, was on loan to the U.S. Navy at the time that it was torpedoed. Ordinary Seaman STANLEY BENNETT was 23 years old at the time.
- The HMS Bedfordshire was torpedoed off the coast of the U.S.A., and the four seamen are buried in the British Cemetery (Cunningham Cemetery) on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, USA.
- The Cunningham Cemetery website indicates that the HMS Bedfordshire was torpedoed and sunk with all hands lost. Four bodies of the crew were subsequently found and buried on Ocracoke Island. Two of the gravesites are marked "unknown" and the other two bear the remains of Thomas Cunningham and Stanley R. Craig. The well-tended graveyard with bronze plaques on concrete crosses and surrounded by a white picket fence still stands today as a memorial to the Royal Navy. These young men are memorialized in a plaque with the words of Rupert Brooke: "If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign field that is for ever England."
Stanley Bennett's brother's life long dream was to see his brother's grave site. With this information, Stanley's nephew can drive his father from Newfoundland to the Cunningham Cemetery in North Carolina to view the gravesites.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Registry indicates that Stanley Bennett's Service Number was LT/JX 280397
Thanks to Fred Swain for providing information on the Cunningham Cemetary at Ocracoke (see story in our Story Library)
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