Name
Bert Bentley
1 November 1892
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
14/04/1918
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Corporal
54874
Machine Gun Corps (Infantry)
6th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
SOIGNIES (ZINNIK) COMMUNAL CEMETERY
I. B. 1.
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
None
UK & Other Memorials
Anstey Village Memorial, St George's Church Memorial, Anstey, Not on the Nuthampstead Memorial Plaque,
Pre War
Bertie Bentley (known as Bert) was born on 1 November 1892 at Bell Lane, Nuthampstead, Hertfordshire, the son of Albert and Esther Bentley (nee Skeggs) and one of 14 children. He was baptised on 12 February 1893 in Barkway, Herts.
He was educated at Barkway School from 2 February 1899. On the 1901 Census the family were living at Morris Green, Nuthampstead, where his father was working as a stockman on a farm. By 1911 they had moved to Puttocks End, Anstey, Herts at which time, Bertie was working as a farm labourer.
Wartime Service
He enlisted in Cheshunt, Herts in 1916 and initially joined the Suffolk Regiment, under reg. no. 34196, later transferring to the Machine Gun Corps. He arrived in Le Havre, France on 13 December 1916 as part of the 192nd Company of the MGC, advancing to Bethune, France two days later.
His division fought in the Battle of Hill 70 in April 1917, followed by the Battle of Cambrai in November, and at some point he was promoted to Corporal. During the German Spring Offensive of 1918 Bert was wounded and taken prisoner
Bertie died of wounds on 14 April 1918 in a German War Hospital and is buried in Soignies Communal Cemetery, Belgium, being one of only 13 First World War Commonwealth War Graves in the cemetery. The town of Soignes contained German war hospitals for the majority of the war.
Additional Information
His father Albert received a war gratuity of £9 and pay owing of £10 15s 4d. A pension card exists with his mother as dependant but no amount of pension is specified.
Brother to Christopher Bentley who served with the Bedfordshire Regiment, survived the war and continued to serve in the army with the Dragoon Guards until 1938. He re-enlisted in WW2 and served as staff sergeant major with Dragoon Guards until 1945. Brother Albert Charles Bentley was already a serving soldier at the outbreak of WW1, serving with the Dragoon Guards from 1908 and continuing to serve after the war as a farrier sergeant.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Malcolm Lennox, Bentley family tree (Ancestry)
