A hidden gift

Volume 48, No. 7, May 04, 2006

Mr Allan Vial, an original member of the Path Finder Force, models the Mae West before presenting it to the AWM.

* The bombing of the German battleship Tirpitz occurred on April 27 and 28, 1942. Four squadrons carried out the raid, using two squadrons of 23 bombers to attack from 12,000 feet as a diversion, and two more of 20 bombers to attack at 200 feet. WGCDR Bennett’s aircraft was hit, and with the starboard engine burning and a ship-generated smokescreen, the bomb aimer could not see where to drop the bombs. Bennett came back for a second run over the target and dropped their five 1000 pound mines near the target, then he and his crew bailed out. He landed and quickly discarded his Mae West and parachute harness. Norwegian Reider Fordal presented WGCDR Bennett’s wife Ly with her husband’s Mae West at the 50th anniversary in 1992 . She bequeathed it to the Path Finder Association of Australia, who have now given it to the AWM.

A LIFE jacket, known as a Mae West, that was worn on a bombing raid against the German battleship Tirpitz in 1942 by the Australian founder and leader of the famous WWII Path Finder Force (PFF), AVM Don Bennett, presented to the Australian War Memorial (AWM) last month.

AVM Bennett, who led the raid, but whose aircraft was fatally hit by flak, dropped his mines on the target, got all his crew out, evaded the German patrols and subsequently got back to the UK.

He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his leadership and bravery on the mission.

He hid his parachute and Mae West, which were later found by a Norwegian who hid the jacket for 50 years before presenting it to AVM Bennett’s widow, Mrs Ly Bennett, in 1992 at a memorial service in Trondheim.

AVM Bennett, born in Toowoomba and trained by the RAAF at Point Cook, was personally chosen by the chief of Bomber Command, ACM “Bomber” Harris, to form and lead the elite group of aviators known as the Path Finder Force.

The role of the PFF was to precede the massive air raids over Europe, and illuminate the targets for the bombers that followed.

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