BENNETT, Albert

Albert Bennett was educated at Hill Street Council School and attended Stourbridge Grammar School from 1906 to 1910. He was a member of the New Road Methodist church. He enlisted in the Royal Navy, probably before 1914, and served on HMS Arethusa as a Writer. This vessel was a light cruiser launched in 1913 and capable of 30 knots. It was armed with 2 6” guns and was part of the 3rd Destroyer Squadron. It took part in the battles of Heligoland Bight in 1914 and the Dogger Bank on the 24th January 1915 when the German armoured cruiser, Blucher, was sunk. However, Arethusa was seriously damaged by mines on the 11th February 1916 and Writer Albert Bennett was invalided out of the navy in October 1918, He died on the 4th August 1919 but does not appear to have been buried in any local cemetery. He is commemorated on Stourbridge, St. Thomas's church, Methodist church, Greenfields Primary school and King Edward VI College Memorials.