Name
David John Bentley
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
26/10/1917
24
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Corporal
7751
London Regiment (Finsbury Rifles)
11th (City of London) Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
MENDINGHEM MILITARY CEMETERY
VII. F. 47.
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Standon War Memorial, St Mary’s Church Memorial, Standon, Puckeridge Memorial Plaque, Standon Village Hall, Standon
Pre War
Born in Puckeridge 13th February 1892 and baptised at Standon 13 March 1892 as David John, but known as John.
The 1901 Census entry for John Bentley shows him aged nine living in High Street, Puckeridge with father David, a builder’s labourer, and mother Emma (nee Game) plus two older sisters, Lizzie (Elizabeth Jane) and Maud. As will be seen from the quoted inscription from his parents’ grave, his mother predeceased him.
The 1911 Census finds him as John David Bentley, a footman, aged 19 at 30 Curzon Street, London (Mayfair) working with nine other staff, for Arthur Henry Renshaw, a director of companies. In the newspaper item quoted below it says he was 6 ft 2 ins tall, and must have looked impressive in his uniforms, both footman and soldier. (see photograph, which has recently been obtained from a member of his family).
He enlisted at Marylebone, probably in 1914, as when he married Mabel Langston on 9th January 1915 in Crouch End, he gave his address as Reed Hall Camp, Colchester, occupation, soldier with the Royal Fusiliers
Wartime Service
Died of wounds, 26 October 1917 aged 25. He was Corporal No. 7751 in the Royal Fusiliers (City of London) Regiment. He was formerly No. 3455 in the Middlesex Regiment.
His brief obituary in the Herts & Essex Observer of 17th November 1917 states:
"Death of Corporal John Bentley - Corporal John Bentley enlisted in the London Regiment at the beginning of the war and went to the front early in 1915. He was the only son of Mr D Bentley of Puckeridge. His wife last week received the sad news from the War Office that her husband died on October 25th from wounds received in action. The deceased, who was 24 years of age, was a fine type of English manhood, being 6 ft 2 in in height. He has done good service for his regiment, which Sir Douglas Haig, in a message this week to the Lord Mayor, states “has done splendidly and is playing a part worthy of the greatest city in the Empire”. On Sunday, at the close of the morning service at the Parish Church, the “Dead March” was played by the Organist, while the congregation stood as a token of sympathy with the family of the deceased, who had given his life for his country."
The action in which he sustained his wounds is uncertain at present, but given his regiment and date of death, it is likely that he fell during the Battle of Ypres (also known as the Third Ypres or Passchendaele).
His grave reference is Vll. F. 47 at Mendinghem Military Cemetery in Belgium.
Additional Information
He is mentioned on his parents’ headstone in Standon churchyard: ‘In loving memory of David Bentley who passed away Sept 5 1929 aged 78 years and his wife Emma who died Oct 4 1907 aged 53 years Also their beloved son John killed in France 26th Oct 1917 aged 25 years, in the Great War’
Acknowledgments
Di Vanderson, Jonty Wild
