208423 Ldg.Sea. Alfred "Wiggy" Bennett Royal Navy HMS Acasta from:Liverpool, England My father, Alfred Bennett, was in the Royal Navy during WW II having served aboard a number of ships. He was just 19 years old. His job was "higher submarine detector" and his first ship was the "Acasta" then the "Coventry" and many more. He was aboard the "Coventry" when it was bombed on New Year's Day, 1940. The Germans dropped bombs alongside the ship and it sprung a leak. From there they went to the south of England for repairs. He told me of being on board the HMS Havock when it was shelled by a battleship two miles off the coast of Gibraltar. He said he swam to shore and was taken by the Vichy French to a POW camp. They were taken to Tunis across the Atlas mountans to Algeria. He said that they were taken by train over very steep mountains. "You could look right over the edge of the tracks straight down". His Royal Navy papers record him as "missing presumed interred - H.M.S. Havock." Then there's a little note that reads "now safe in the U.K." He also told me of a game that they played during free time called "Tom Bowler". I wish that I had paid more attention or had asked more questions so that I could pass this part of our family history on to future generations. If your veteran is still alive, I hope that you can take the opportunity to talk to them about their experience in the war(s).
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