238934 Ord.Sea. Richard Frid Dennett Royal Navy HMS Weymouth from:Leyton (d.19th March 1917) Rufigi River Hero, The Son Of A Leyton Amition Worker.
We are asked to state That Richard Frid Dennet the heroic seaman of H.M.S. Weymouth who refused to sign a
declaration of neutrality and in consequence died a prisoner of war in German Fast Africa was not the son of
a widow as reported by a news agency.
His father is Mr James R. Bennett of 27 Waterloo Road Leyton Essex who is a munition worker.
Richard Bennett was serving on a tug reconnoitering at the mouth of the Rufigi River in German East Africa
in 1915 when the vessel came under the fire of a German shore battery and was struck in the engine room.
The tug drifted ashore and Dennett who was badly wounded in the
abdomen was taken prisoner. He was looked after by the wife of the captain of the German cruiser Konigsberg
and for eight months he lay in hospital at Dar-es-Salaam.
He was then removed to Magdawa. There were no means of extracting the bullet there and the Germans offered
to release him if he would sign a declaration of neutrality. Dennett a true hero
persistently refused to sign and paid for his fidelity to the flag with his life.
Extract from the Star. 24th Dec. 1917
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