George Bennions
Encyclopedia
Squadron Leader
George Herman 'Ben' Bennions DFC
, RAF
(born 15 March 1913; died 30 January 2004) was one of the leading Battle of Britain
Spitfire pilots.
, Stoke-on-Trent
, Staffordshire
. He joined the Royal Air Force
in 1929 as an aircraft apprentice
at RAF Halton
and qualified three years later as an engine fitter. In 1935 Bennions married Avis Brown who died in 2000 and they had three daughters. Their son died in infancy.
Bennions trained as a pilot
and in January 1936 joined No. 41 Squadron RAF
in Aden
as a sergeant pilot flying the Hawker Demon
fighter. The squadron returned to England later that year to be re-equipped with the Hawker Fury
, and again in 1940 with the Supermarine Spitfire
. Bennions received his commission in April 1940.
, he recorded his first success on 28 July 1940 when he shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109
of JG 51. On the following day, after shooting down his second Bf 109, his Spitfire was damaged and he had to crash land in Kent. On 15 August 1940 while on a temporary rest break at RAF Catterick
, his squadron was in action against a Luftwaffe
force of 120 bombers and 21 Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters along the Yorkshire coast near Hartlepool
. Bennions destroyed one Messerschmitt Bf 110
of I./ZG 76 and damaged another. The squadron returned to Hornchurch and on 5 September Bennions shot down a Junkers Ju 88
and probably destroyed a Bf 109, and the following day two more Bf 109's. He claimed another Bf 109 on 9 September and further successes quickly followed bringing his tally to twelve destroyed (one German bomber, 11 fighters), five probably destroyed, and five damaged, including a Dornier Do 17
.
Bennions was severely wounded on October 1, 1940. That morning Bennions had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross
and was about to go on leave; when he was scrambled (in Spitfore I X4559) to intercept Messerschmitt
s. He shot down one of the raiders before a shell exploded in his cockpit
, blinding him in the left eye and severely damaging his right arm and leg. Badly burned and bleeding heavily he struggled to bail out, and somehow managed to open his parachute
before losing consciousness.
He was found in a field near Hatfield
, and taken to hospital where swift action saved his right eye, but nothing could be done for the left. Bennions was transferred to Queen Victoria Hospital
, East Grinstead
, where he was one of the first pilots in the care of Sir Archibald McIndoe
, the pioneer of plastic surgery
for the treatment for severe burns. As one of "Archie's Guinea Pigs", Bennions became a founder member of the Guinea Pig Club
. Also, as one who had parachuted to save his life, he was eligible to join the Caterpillar Club
.
Following remarkable recovery from these injuries, Bennions became a fighter controller and was promoted to Squadron Leader
. In January 1943 he was mentioned in dispatches. He later served in North Africa
as a senior controller and liaison officer with an American Fighter Group equipped with Spitfires. With only a limited flying category he was permitted to fly on convoy patrols; but was not allowed to take part in combat operations.
In October 1943, Bennions commanded a Ground control interception unit that was sent ashore at Ajaccio
on Corsica
. As he left the landing craft, an enemy glide bomb exploded, and he received shrapnel wounds. For the second time he became a patient of McIndoe at East Grinstead. For the rest of the war, Bennions was a senior fighter controller at various units in the North of England.
where he lived for the rest of his life. Bennions was a skilled silversmith
, and had his own hallmark
. His hobbies included building and sailing a dinghy with friends and also flying until his seventies a de Havilland Tiger Moth
aircraft in which he owned a share. For many years he was an honorary member of the RAF Catterick Officers' Mess, where his invariably pleasant and unassuming manner seldom gave the younger serving members any inkling of his previous life. He was a keen golfer, and was elected captain of his local club before being made an honorary life member.
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
George Herman 'Ben' Bennions DFC
Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...
, RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
(born 15 March 1913; died 30 January 2004) was one of the leading Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
Spitfire pilots.
Early Life
George Bennions was born in BurslemBurslem
The town of Burslem, known as the Mother Town, is one of the six towns that amalgamated to form the current city of Stoke-on-Trent, in the ceremonial county of Staffordshire, in the Midlands of England.-Topography:...
, Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
. He joined the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
in 1929 as an aircraft apprentice
Aircraft Apprentice
The Aircraft Apprentice Scheme was a training programme for Royal Air Force ground crew personnel.-Formation:World War I saw the beginning of aerial combat. By 1 April 1918 the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service had amalgamated into the Royal Air Force...
at RAF Halton
RAF Halton
RAF Halton is one of the largest Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom, located near the village of Halton near Wendover, Buckinghamshire.HRH The Duchess of Cornwall is the Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Halton.-History:...
and qualified three years later as an engine fitter. In 1935 Bennions married Avis Brown who died in 2000 and they had three daughters. Their son died in infancy.
Bennions trained as a pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
and in January 1936 joined No. 41 Squadron RAF
No. 41 Squadron RAF
No. 41 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is currently the RAF's Test and Evaluation Squadron , based at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. Its official title is "41 TES". The Squadron celebrates its 95th anniversary in 2011, and is one of the oldest RAF squadrons in existence.-First World War, 1916–1919:No...
in Aden
Aden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
as a sergeant pilot flying the Hawker Demon
Hawker Hart
The Hawker Hart was a British two-seater biplane light bomber of the Royal Air Force , which had a prominent role during the RAF's inter-war period. The Hart was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and built by Hawker Aircraft...
fighter. The squadron returned to England later that year to be re-equipped with the Hawker Fury
Hawker Fury
The Hawker Fury was a British biplane fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force in the 1930s. It was originally named the Hornet and was the counterpart to the Hawker Hart light bomber.-Design and development:...
, and again in 1940 with the Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
. Bennions received his commission in April 1940.
Wartime Career
While stationed at RAF HornchurchRAF Hornchurch
RAF Hornchurch was an airfield in the south of Hornchurch in what is now the London Borough of Havering. Known as Sutton's Farm during the First World War, it occupied of the farm of the same name and was situated east north-east of Charing Cross...
, he recorded his first success on 28 July 1940 when he shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
of JG 51. On the following day, after shooting down his second Bf 109, his Spitfire was damaged and he had to crash land in Kent. On 15 August 1940 while on a temporary rest break at RAF Catterick
RAF Catterick
RAF Catterick is a former Royal Air Force airfield located near Catterick, North Yorkshire in England.-History:Catterick airfield first opened in 1914 as a Royal Flying Corps aerodrome with the role of training pilots and to assist in the defence of the North East of England...
, his squadron was in action against a Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
force of 120 bombers and 21 Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters along the Yorkshire coast near Hartlepool
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
. Bennions destroyed one Messerschmitt Bf 110
Messerschmitt Bf 110
The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often called Me 110, was a twin-engine heavy fighter in the service of the Luftwaffe during World War II. Hermann Göring was a proponent of the Bf 110, and nicknamed it his Eisenseiten...
of I./ZG 76 and damaged another. The squadron returned to Hornchurch and on 5 September Bennions shot down a Junkers Ju 88
Junkers Ju 88
The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early...
and probably destroyed a Bf 109, and the following day two more Bf 109's. He claimed another Bf 109 on 9 September and further successes quickly followed bringing his tally to twelve destroyed (one German bomber, 11 fighters), five probably destroyed, and five damaged, including a Dornier Do 17
Dornier Do 17
The Dornier Do 17, sometimes referred to as the Fliegender Bleistift , was a World War II German light bomber produced by Claudius Dornier's company, Dornier Flugzeugwerke...
.
Bennions was severely wounded on October 1, 1940. That morning Bennions had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...
and was about to go on leave; when he was scrambled (in Spitfore I X4559) to intercept Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt AG was a famous German aircraft manufacturing corporation named for its chief designer, Willy Messerschmitt, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, notably the Bf 109 and Me 262...
s. He shot down one of the raiders before a shell exploded in his cockpit
Cockpit
A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft. Most modern cockpits are enclosed, except on some small aircraft, and cockpits on large airliners are also physically separated from the cabin...
, blinding him in the left eye and severely damaging his right arm and leg. Badly burned and bleeding heavily he struggled to bail out, and somehow managed to open his parachute
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
before losing consciousness.
He was found in a field near Hatfield
Hatfield
- Places :Hatfield is the name of several places around the world. It comes from O.E. Haeth field , meaning field of heather.In Australia*Hatfield, New South Wales, located in the Electoral district of Murray-DarlingIn England:...
, and taken to hospital where swift action saved his right eye, but nothing could be done for the left. Bennions was transferred to Queen Victoria Hospital
Queen Victoria Hospital
The Queen Victoria Hospital, located in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England is the specialist reconstructive surgery centre for the south east of England, and also provides services at clinics across the region. It has become world famous for its pioneering burns and plastic surgery. The hospital...
, East Grinstead
East Grinstead
East Grinstead is a town and civil parish in the northeastern corner of Mid Sussex, West Sussex in England near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders. It lies south of London, north northeast of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester...
, where he was one of the first pilots in the care of Sir Archibald McIndoe
Archibald McIndoe
Sir Archibald McIndoe CBE FRCS was a pioneering New Zealand plastic surgeon who worked for the Royal Air Force during World War II. He greatly improved the treatment and rehabilitation of badly burned aircrew.-Background:...
, the pioneer of plastic surgery
Plastic surgery
Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, most plastic surgery is not cosmetic: plastic surgery includes many types of reconstructive surgery, hand...
for the treatment for severe burns. As one of "Archie's Guinea Pigs", Bennions became a founder member of the Guinea Pig Club
Guinea Pig Club
The Guinea Pig Club was formed of patients of Archibald McIndoe at Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, Sussex who underwent reconstructive plastic surgery during World War II, generally after receiving burn injuries in aircraft....
. Also, as one who had parachuted to save his life, he was eligible to join the Caterpillar Club
Caterpillar Club
The Caterpillar Club is an informal association of people who have successfully used a parachute to bail out of a disabled aircraft. After authentication by the parachute maker, applicants receive a membership certificate and a distinctive lapel pin...
.
Following remarkable recovery from these injuries, Bennions became a fighter controller and was promoted to Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
. In January 1943 he was mentioned in dispatches. He later served in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
as a senior controller and liaison officer with an American Fighter Group equipped with Spitfires. With only a limited flying category he was permitted to fly on convoy patrols; but was not allowed to take part in combat operations.
In October 1943, Bennions commanded a Ground control interception unit that was sent ashore at Ajaccio
Ajaccio
Ajaccio , is a commune on the island of Corsica in France. It is the capital and largest city of the region of Corsica and the prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud....
on Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
. As he left the landing craft, an enemy glide bomb exploded, and he received shrapnel wounds. For the second time he became a patient of McIndoe at East Grinstead. For the rest of the war, Bennions was a senior fighter controller at various units in the North of England.
Post war
Bennions left the RAF in 1946, and took a teacher training course, returning to teach woodwork, metalwork and practical drawing at CatterickCatterick, North Yorkshire
Catterick , sometimes Catterick Village, to distinguish it from the nearby Catterick Garrison, is a village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England...
where he lived for the rest of his life. Bennions was a skilled silversmith
Silversmith
A silversmith is a craftsperson who makes objects from silver or gold. The terms 'silversmith' and 'goldsmith' are not synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product varies greatly as does the scale of objects created.Silversmithing is the...
, and had his own hallmark
Hallmark
A hallmark is an official mark or series of marks struck on items made of precious metals — platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium...
. His hobbies included building and sailing a dinghy with friends and also flying until his seventies a de Havilland Tiger Moth
De Havilland Tiger Moth
The de Havilland DH 82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and was operated by the Royal Air Force and others as a primary trainer. The Tiger Moth remained in service with the RAF until replaced by the de Havilland Chipmunk in 1952, when many of the surplus aircraft...
aircraft in which he owned a share. For many years he was an honorary member of the RAF Catterick Officers' Mess, where his invariably pleasant and unassuming manner seldom gave the younger serving members any inkling of his previous life. He was a keen golfer, and was elected captain of his local club before being made an honorary life member.