Author: Lt Col (Retd) Steve Colling, Corps Historian

This article is the third part of a series offering a behind-the-scenes view of the research process undertaken by our Corps Historian to accurately record the service and circumstances of death of a REME soldier: Corporal (Cpl) Richard Bennetta.

If you are new to this series, we recommend that you read Part 1 and Part 2 now.

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Following on from the previous article, this is the question to be answered now:

‘Was Cpl Bennetta under the cap badge of the Welch Regiment or the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) before joining REME?’

There is a copy of the 1st Battalion Welch Regiment War Diary for 1943 online on the Ancestry website. A strength return from December 1943 shows the REME strength in the Battalion as five, comprising two Sergeants (Sgt), one Lance Corporal (LCpl) and two Private (Pte) soldiers.

The Battalion was in Cairo in December 1943. It took part in the arrangements for the Mena Conference where Churchill met with Roosefeld and İsmet İnönü President of the Republic of Turkey. From there it moved to Kabrit on the Suez Canal before returning to the UK to prepare for operations in North West Europe.

The War Diary (National Archives reference WO 169/10306) for 1943 is mainly concerned with the landings in Sicily (Operation HUSKY) and mainland Italy (Operation BAYTOWN) but from January to March 1943 the Battalion was in Khartoum, Sudan.

The Strength Returns for January 1943 record the change of responsibility for the repair and recovery of Army equipment. Within the Battalion, 5 attached from other corps were responsible. Up until October 1942 all would have been serving under the RAOC cap badge. They rebadged REME but the process took a while to filter down. Of the 7 RAOC in the Battalion, 5 rebadged, with1 RAOC Corporal continuing to provide RAOC support. It seems likely that Cpl Bennetta came to REME having been an RAOC tradesman serving with 1 Welch R. That he was Welsh might just have been a coincidence.

We contacted the Royal Welsh Museum, but regrettably there was nothing new to be found. This is not particularly surprising as military museums don’t usually hold nominal rolls or records of service unless they have been donated. Here at Lyneham, we’re gradually assembling our own collection of REME Records but it’s a big task and we have limited resources.

To make progress we really need Cpl Bennetta’s record of service to enable us to dig deeper.

Ministry of Defence (MOD) service records of those born before 1940 are being transferred to The National Archives (TNA). Some REME Records have also been made available on the Ancestry website including that of Harold (Richard’s brother) however, Cpl Bennetta’s name is not amongst them.

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TNA has, in 2026, announced a new service which gives access to certain open and closed records. Digital copies of records under the Standard Service will provide key documents from a soldier’s military service within 30 days. A search of the TNA website for Bennetta revealed several records including one for Cpl R Bennetta. His was a closed record. As such, access was previously limited to all but the Next of Kin.

In January 2026, a request was submitted to the National Archives for a record search. Although a closed record, proof of a death in service should allow a copy of the record to be released. The request was treated as a Freedom of Information Request and we received Cpl Bennetta’s file with redactions, which are usually made to protect the identity of any living individual(s).

The Record of Service includes the Attestation Form which notes Richard Bennetta was born on 3 October 1918 near Port Talbot, was married to Myra in 1939 and living in Bridgend prior to enlistment.

The Record notes his ‘alien parentage’. When Italy joined the war in 1940, Italians living in Britain became classed as ‘enemy aliens’, even where they had been settled for years or had sons serving in the British Army. Many thousands were interned. Despite being a British subject himself, Richard’s parentage was still worth noting to a government deeply concerned by the potential for foreign allegiances.

Excerpt from Army Form B102. Source: TNA.

He enlisted on 16 October 1939 for the duration of the war and joined the Welch Regiment. After basic training at the 21 Infantry Training Centre at Brecon he joined the 4th Battalion in Northern Ireland. The Battalion was serving with 160 Infantry Brigade, 53 (Welch) Infantry Division.

In Northern Ireland, Pte Bennetta experienced the full power of military justice. He was placed under close arrest for stealing NAAFI property on 6 June 1940 and following a District Court Martial at Banbridge was sentenced to 113 days ‘imprisonment without hard labour’. The Divisional Commander commuted his sentence to ‘detention’ and he was released to duty on 17 September 1940.

In April 1941, Pte Bennetta was posted first to the ‘Y’ List and then back to the Infantry Training Centre. Then, in July 1941, he headed out to the Middle East and joined 1st Battalion the Welch Regiment.

The Battalion spent the war in the Middle East. Richard Bennetta’s Record of Service does not record the detail of dates and locations where the Battalion served; that detail that should be available in the unit war diary. However, sources place the battalion at Citadel Barracks, Cairo, supporting 2 Anti-Aircraft Brigade covering the Nile Delta in July 1941. From there it moved in November to Mersa Matruh, then Tobruk and remained in Libya serving with Indian Brigades until April 1942. Returning briefly to Alexandria, it then moved to South Barracks, Khartoum in the Sudan.

In July 1942, Pte Bennetta was posted to the X(II) List implying some sort of medical issue. Army Form 102 notes his downgraded medical category as B1. Medical records are not usually released by the MOD so we don’t know specifics, only that he now fit into these standards.

Definition of the B1 category from Army Pamphlet ‘Medical Categories for Other Ranks 1943’.

In October 1942, Pte Bennetta was posted to 19 Headquarter (HQ) (Sudan) and then in March 1943 he joined the 12th Battalion Sudan Defence Force (SDF).

Sudan Defence Force cap badge. From our collection, 2015.7945.1.

Therefore, we now know that Pte Bennetta did not transfer to REME in October 1942 and would not be considered a founder member of the Corps. However, he trained as a Driver/Mechanic whilst serving with the SDF in 1943 and became a Vehicle Mechanic in 1944.

Excerpt from Bennetta’s Record of Service. Source: TNA.

In May 1943, Bennetta was appointed Acting Corporal (A/Cpl) and was given the War Substantive rank in August. He transferred to REME on completion of his Vehicle Mechanic training in September 1944 but stayed attached to the SDF.

In December 1944, Cpl Bennetta was given three months compassionate leave and returned to the UK via Liverpool.

After leave, Cpl Bennetta rejoined the SDF and remained with them until August when he began the journey home.

Excerpt from Army Form B102 (Reverse). Source: TNA.

The AFB 102 places Cpl Bennetta with the SDF until 29 July 1945 when he was posted to the REME Base Depot at Tel el Kebir (between the Suez Canal and Cairo). He was there for two weeks (including travel time) and left on 13 August.

The usual route home at the time would have been by troopship from Alexandria to Malta, then on to Toulon in France, followed by a road/rail journey to the English Channel ports. The Mediterranean Line of Communication (MEDLOC) operated in both directions resupplying the Middle East and repatriating troops at the end of their service.

Excerpt recording the circumstances of Bennetta’s death. Source: TNA.

Presumably, Cpl Bennetta was given an opportunity to get home sooner and he took it. Or, perhaps his earlier leave for compassionate reasons gave him priority and he was allocated a vacant seat on a plane.

The air crash happened on 27 August 1945.

Those living in the UK during the war would have feared the knock at the door and the official telegram bearing news that their relative had been killed in action, died of wounds or was missing. The services operated (and still operates) a message priority system for informing the next of kin when soldier dies or is seriously injured. During both World Wars, the word ‘Proelicas’ from the Latin ‘proelium’ meaning battle or combat, and the abbreviation ‘cas’ from ‘casualty’, were used to precede messages.

Excerpts including the term ‘Proelicas’. Source: TNA.

At the end of 1945, Bennetta’s wife was awarded a pension with an additional allowance for their children.

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This concludes our Corps Historian’s research into the circumstances behind Cpl Bennetta’s death. His is just one name amongst approximately 4300 REME servicemen who died whilst serving.

Our 'Died in Service’ database lists all those who have died whilst serving in the Corps and can be viewed in our Remembrance Gallery. We have embarked on a project to improve these records with additional information and photographs.