Action on Somme earned top medal

He was the only native of the area to be awarded the coveted medal during the 20th Century. Nick Thornicroft reports.

Born at the Schoolhouse in Cainscross on June 4, 1892, Lt Bennett was the son of Charles - the master of Cainscross School - and Florence.

Baptised in the local church, Paul (as he was known) and his family later moved to nearby Frome Park Road, Rodborough, where Charles took on the role of chief secretary to the Mid-Gloucestershire Working Man's Conservative Association (the forerunner of the original Holloway Society).

Young Paul attended Uplands Council School before gaining a scholarship at Marling, attending lessons here with his brothers.

Although he obtained a job with the Bank of England, Lt Bennett soon joined the Army a year prior to the outbreak of the First World War (which began in August,1914) but the first of several tragedies befell his family shortly afterwards when his brother, Leopold died in Bristol.

Commissioned as an officer with the 2nd Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment, in January 1915, Lt Bennett suffered another bereavement when his brother, Harold - a Second Lieutenant with the Royal Garrison Artillery - lost his life in a Cardiff motorcycle accident.

Having been in France since October 1914, 2/Lt. EP Bennett appeared to lead a charmed life.

He was the only officer in his company to survive the Battle of Neuve Chapelle (March, 1915), and two months later at Festubert he was buried alive when the trench he was in collapsed due to the detonation of a mine but his comrades managed to dig him out in time.

At Loos, in September, he was heavily engaged in the major British offensive, and received a Military Cross for bravery during a counter-attack. (This was awarded to him in person by the King at Buckingham Palace during May 1916).

The Battle of the Somme began its unparalleled reign of bloodshed and slaughter on July 1, 1916, and by November, hundreds of thousands of men had been killed or wounded.

On the 5th, the 2nd Worcester launched an assault on the heavily defended German positions at Le Transloy, yet the first wave suffered heavy casualties before being pinned down in the open. Leading the second line, Lt.

Bennett was wounded early on but he continued moving forward until reaching a trench, where he could see the remnants of his battalion being cut to pieces in No Man's Land.

Realising the attack had faltered and in peril of complete failure due to the lack of officers and senior men in the ranks (two who had gone out immediately before him were now both dead), Lt Bennett swiftly dug steps in the front of the trench with a spade before calling on his soldiers to follow, commenting later: "we were like a swarm of rats in a ploughed field".

Despite heavy rifle and machine-gun fire from the enemy, the position was finally taken, and Lt Bennett consolidated the area under a continuing barrage, issuing orders although severely hindered by his own wounds.

This newly-established line was re-named the Bennett Trench,' and the officer who was singled out for the success of its eventual capture was recommended to receive the Victoria Cross ".for most conspicuous bravery in action".

(The same attack took the life of Slad-born Pte Jack Brown the 21-year-old son of Frank and Clara. His body was never identified, and he has no marked grave).

Whilst recovering from his injuries, Bennett was promoted to Captain, and when he was well enough to travel, a reception in his honour was arranged by Stroud Urban District Council.

On February 21, 1917, Capt. Bennett was met at the town's Great Western railway station by many local dignitaries and well wishers, and a banner had been erected, proclaiming STROUD IS PROUD OF ITS VC'.

Mills and factories closed early to enable as many citizens as possible to greet the new hero, who was borne through streets in a Rolls Royce to a specially erected platform in King Street Parade, which had been decorated with flags and bunting.

The procession was flanked by volunteers, Marling School and Brimscombe Polytechnic Cadets, the Church lads' Brigade, the Stroud Men's Red Cross Detachment, plus the Stroud and District Boy Scouts.

After several short speeches, Captain Bennett rose to thank the Stroud UDC for its kind words and hospitality, adding "the most important thing of all at the front was luck, and so far I have been one of the lucky ones. I have simply got a bullet through my clothes, whereas other and better men had got them through their heads".

Capt Bennett was then handed an illuminated address, which read: "We, the undersigned, being members and officials of the courage and conspicuous bravery you have displayed on the field of battle during the European War in the great push on the River Somme in France."

The Stroud News reported at the time: "Great enthusiasm prevailed, the Parade and adjacent thoroughfares being packed with people, and the young VC' was given a splendid reception. It required but little imagination to piece together the scene in which Capt Bennett so splendidly figured.

Seeing the first wave of men swept by a hail of rifle and machine-gun fire, men falling in clusters on the heavy, blood-soaked, bespattered ground, their commander shot dead early in the advance, and the survivors halting with a bewildered sense of impotency against the increasing hurricane of shot, Capt Bennett sprang from cover at the head of his men and entered the zone of death, and by personal example of valour and resolution reached the objective with but 60 men"Led by such officers the men will go anywhere, and all the ingenious human-killing machinery invented by the Germans cannot stop them.."

Later presentations saw the new VC receive a Sword of Honour from the Bank of England, an inscribed silver spirit flask, and a cigarette case. The Mid-Gloucestershire Conservative Benefit Society declared: "As Stroud folk, (we are) glad to know that although (Capt. Bennett) was not attached to a Gloucestershire Regiment, he was a Gloucestershire man, having been born and bred within 1 1/2 miles of that very lodge room".

The Captain also visited Marling, where a Bennett Prize for Outstanding Service To The School was initiated.

But there were dark days ahead for the Bennett family. Paul's brother, Capt. Theodore Bennett, was killed in action in Palestine during September 1918, and just before Great War officially ended, Capt EP Bennett was dangerously wounded on the Western Front when a shell exploded close to him. Such were the extent of his injuries, he was unable to attend his fathers funeral (which brought Stroud to a standstill) the following year.

After the conflict, Paul Bennett studied law and later became a magistrate in London. He was twice bombed out of his house during the Blitz in the Second World War, and was Guest of Honour at Marling School Speech Day in 1954.

There is a portrait of him kept at the school depicting him wearing the uniform of a Royal Air Force Squadron Leader with the Air Training Corps. Retiring in 1961, he went to live in Italy, where he passed away during 1970. His medals are on display at the Worcestershire Regiment Museum in Worcester, and there is also a memorial window dedicated to him in Worcester Cathedral. So far as can be established, there is no form of official commemoration to Capt EP Bennett, VC, MC, anywhere in his home town, or even his native country.