264788 CPO. George Eric Bennett Royal Navy HMS Dorsetshire George Bennett was my step father but treated me as his own.
He died in 2007 having married my mother in 1976.
He had served with distinction in the Royal Navy during the Second World War and survived two sinkings.
These were whilst serving as Chief Petty Officer aboard HMS Dorsetshire (off Ceylon) and HMS Edinburgh (Arctic Convoys).
In October 2004 I was lucky enough to accompany George on the Hero's Return trip to South Africa. The original plan was to travel to Sri Lanka but due to the civil war raging in that country, we actually went to South Africa. We stayed at Durban and Cape Town and also visited Simonstown Dockyard where HMS Dorsetshire had been stationed for a short period during the war. The highlight of the trip was a journey on a South African frigate around the bay of Cape Town, from which a Commemorative Wreath was laid on the sea in memory of those who lost their lives when the Dorsetshire was sunk in April 1942.
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