ROBERT WILLIAM BENNETT (grave 39)

I was from Rainham in Essex, where I lived on Wilfred Avenue. I was 24 at the time of the accident.

The Battle of Britain was at its height, but it was not just the Luftwaffe who were claiming their victims, others died of more indirect causes. Blackout restrictions at the time not only required that street lighting be extinguished, but also that the owners of cars mask-off their headlights, so that just a narrow beam of light was produced. It was late on the evening of Saturday 20th July 1940 when Robert Bennett aged twenty four and originally from Wilfred Avenue, Rainham in Essex, was walking along the Lincoln to Market Rasen Road. He had just caught up with Private Edwin Atkinson and they were chatting as they returned home to Dunholme Lodge, from Nettleham. Both men were walking on the left-hand side of the road with their backs to the traffic, Robert to the right of Edwin.

It was a dark night and clouds obscured the moon. Major Urwin of the Royal Engineers and his driver, co-incidentally, also named Bennett, were travelling in the same direction at a speed of about 30 miles 16 an hour. As they rounded an S-bend in their car, they suddenly saw two figures appear out of the darkness; their much-reduced headlights would have made this a very late sighting indeed.

Major Urwin later estimated it to be only a few feet. It seemed certain that the car would hit both men but the driver swerved to the right and managed to avoid Private Atkinson. Robert Bennett was less fortunate and after being struck by the car was then rushed to Lincoln County Hospital. He suffered a fractured thigh bone and a fractured skull. Sadly, he died 20 minutes after admission to the hospital.

At the time of the accident, Atkinson only heard a bump and was shocked to see Robert lying, badly injured, in the verge. In his evidence to the coroner Atkinson stated that he hadn’t heard the car coming and that he had never been sure which side of the road pedestrians were supposed to walk on at night. Major Urwin told the court that his driver, Bennett had been on active service with him in France and that he considered him a careful and reliable man. The coroner reminded the public of the dangers of walking with their backs to the traffic, especially at night. The inquest also revealed that the accident had nearly been avoided completely.