Ernest Harry Bennett was born in the summer of 1890, he third of ten children to Harry and Caroline – or Carrie – Bennett. Harry was a journeyman mason from the Devon village of Chagford, and this is where the Bennett family were raised.

When he finished his education, Ernest found work as a general labourer, and it this work that likely took him across the border to Somerset. He found work as a platelayer for the Great Western Railway in Taunton, and settled in Rowbarton, to the north west of the town.

On 28th September 1912, Ernest married Gertrude Alice Bennett in her local parish church, St George’s in Ruishton. A few months later, the couple had a son, Frederick, and almost exactly two years later, a daughter, Gladys, was born.

By this point, war was raging across Europe, and in July 1915, Ernest received the notice to enlist. Assigned to the Royal Engineers, he was attached to the 53rd Railway Company, probably to make use of his civilian trade. By the end of 1915, Ernest found himself in Egypt, and remained there for the rest of the war.

In July 1918, the now Lance Corporal Bennett was posted to the Railway Operating Division, but continued his service in North Africa. On 8th March 1919, he sailed from Port Said, heading back to Britain to be demobbed.

Returning to Somerset, Ernest fell ill, contracting pneumonia, probably on the journey home. He was admitted to the Taunton Military Hospital, but passed away from the condition just ten days after reaching England’s shores, on 1st April 1919. He was just 28 years of age.

The body of Ernest Harry Bennett was laid to rest in the graveyard extension to St George’s Church in Ruishton, not far from where his widow and children lived.

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