Hindenberg Line bravery of man known as ‘Sparrow’ leaves world a better place according to daughter

THE further Dianne Doyle digs into her father’s past, the more frequently she hears a simple, yet poignant, description of him.

Family of decorated WWI soldier Francis Bennetts. Jake Martin 8 Great Great grandson, Matthew Martin Great Grandson, Pat Courtney 90 daughter, Jo-Anne Martin Grand daughter, Dianne Doyle 75 daughter, Samuel Carlin 23 Great Grandson, Olivia Martin 5 Great Great Grand daughter. Picture Campbell Brodie.

THE further Dianne Doyle digs into her father’s past, the more frequently she hears a simple, yet poignant, description of him.

“Gee your father was a little man, but by god was he a brave one,” Ms Doyle, of West Lakes Shore, has been told over and over again.

And history shows he was – on both counts.

Port Adelaide man Francis “Sparrow” Bennetts’ enlistment papers show he stood at just 160cm when he joined up in March 1915.

The 20-year-old was posted to the 10th Battalion and embarked on the HMAT Kanowna three months later.

“Sparrow” joined the Gallipoli campaign until his unit was evacuated to Egypt in December.

He was transferred to the 13th Australian Machine Gun Company and arrived in France in June 1916.

During the attack on the French town of Noreuil in April, 1917, Corporal Bennetts “advanced and then held his position” under heavy machine gun fire, his service records show.

His “coolness under fire and readiness to accept responsibility” earned him a Distinguished Conduct Medal.

A year later, the now Sergeant Bennetts was awarded a Military Medal for “bravery and devotion” to duty during an attack on the Hindenburg Line.

Major-General Ewen Sinclair MacLagan wrote that Bennetts, “noticing an enemy machine gun doing much damage, single-handedly rushed the gun and captured the crew”.

Bennetts survived the war and returned home in March 1919.

Ms Doyle – one of Bennetts’ four daughters – says that despite her father’s heroism, he was mostly remembered for his humility.

“My father was the quietest, most unassuming man that you could find,” she says.

“He loved his wife Kathleen, his family, his vegie garden and the Port Adelaide Magpies.

“He did not take anything in life for granted and when he died in 1979 he left the world in a better place than when he found it.”

Originally published as Hindenberg Line bravery of man known as ‘Sparrow’ leaves world a better place according to daughter