The AIF Project

Arthur BENSLEY

Regimental number1018
Place of birthWarrnambool, Victoria
SchoolState School, Warrnambool, Victoria
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationCabinetmaker
AddressTimor Street, Warrnambool, Victoria
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation19
Height6' 0"
Weight147 lbs
Next of kinMother, Mrs S K Bensley, Timor Street, Warrnambool, Victoria
Previous military service46th Battery Australian Field Artillery; Served in the Compulsory Military Training scheme.
Enlistment date18 August 1914
Place of enlistmentMelbourne, Victoria
Rank on enlistmentGunner
Unit nameField Artillery Brigade 2, Battery 5
AWM Embarkation Roll number13/30/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board Transport A9 Shropshire on 20 October 1914
Rank from Nominal RollGunner
Unit from Nominal Roll2nd Field Artillery Brigade
FateDied of wounds 3 May 1917
Place of death or woundingBullecourt, France
Age at death22.11
Age at death from cemetery records22
Place of burialGrevillers British Cemetery (Plot II, Row C, Grave No. 20), France
Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
11
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Archibald Kerr and Edith Alice BENSLEY, Warrnambool, Victoria
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Joined Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, 8 April 1915; evacuated Gallipoli and disembarked Alexandria, 22 December 1915.

Embarked Alexandria to join British Expeditionary Force, 22 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 28 March 1916.

Wounded in action, France, 3 May 1917; admitted to 6th Australian Field Ambulance, 3 May 1917 (shrapnel wound, back and right leg); transferred to 3rd Casualty Clearing Station, 3 May 1917; died of wounds, 3 May 1917.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

[On 29 May 1920 Mrs Edith A. Bensley wrote to the Officer Commanding Base Depots stating that Arthur Bensley "was one of 3 illegitmiate children that Mrs. T Prat had to 3 different fathers before she married Prat, who is the father of none of them. Arthur washboarded out to an old woman in this town and as his mother could not pay for him and the old lady could not keep him for nothing there was talk of him being sent to the schools. Mr. Bensley and I had no children and we took a fancy to the child and took as our own and we got nothing with him and nothing for him from anyone. We reared him from 18 months of age and he was in his apprenticeship to the Cabinet making when he enlisted. He knew Mrs. Prat was his mother, but he had nothing but disgust for her and never spoke to her if he met her. He knew no mother's love but mine and he told me had left a Will, when he was home on final leave, but we could never tell what he did with it." This was in response to Mrs. Prat requesting a benefit as the mother of a deceased soldier]
SourcesNAA: B2455, BENSLEY Arthur

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