January 12, 1894 (Bridgeport, CT) – October 5, 1918; 24 years old
Unmarried
Last local address: Aunt Elsie Ayrault lived at 16 Van Zant, East Norwalk
Entered the service on May 28, 1918
Serial number 3194905
Unit: 4th Infantry Division, 59th Infantry, L Company
Born to George Bennett (?-1896) and Fannie Content Manchester Bennett (1873-1940). Half-brothers George O. Lomas (1900-), William Lomas (1902-), and half-sister Myrtle Lomas Thomas (1904-).
Worked in shipping in New York City prior to service. Lived in Brooklyn when drafted.
Killed at the Argonne Forest, Verdun sector.
From The Norwalk Hour November 14, 1918
Mrs. W.H. Ayrault, of 16 Van Zant Street, received word from the adjutant general’s office in Washington, on November 7, that her nephew, Private Edward Bennett, had been killed in action on October 5. Private Bennett was a frequent visitor here coming from his home in Brooklyn. He knew very few people, however, in Norwalk. He was a Bridgeport boy and at the time of his heroic end was twenty-four years old. In this city, he is survived by his aunt, Mrs. Ayrault, his uncle, W.H. Sanders Ayrault, a half-sister, Miss Myrtle Looman who lives with Mr. Ayrault, and his grandfather, J.A. Manchester who also lives with Mrs. Ayrault. In Bridgeport, he is survived by his mother, Mrs. H.S. Jones, and half-brother George Looman, both of 59 Fairview Avenue, and an uncle, Edward Manchester of 74 Seeley Street, Bridgeport. Private Bennett was drafted on May 28 of this year, going to Camp Upton where he was assigned to Company M, 303rd Infantry. When he arrived in France in July, he was assigned to Company E, 151st Infantry, and in a letter written on September 7 to his aunt, he wrote that he had been transferred. He was well known in Bridgeport where he lived for some nineteen years before he moved to New York about five years ago.
From The Norwalk Hour February 2,1919
BENNETT MET DEATH IN GOING OVER THE TOP
Mrs. W. Howard Ayrault, of East Norwalk, received a letter last week from Corporal Charles J. Farley with the American Army of Occupation describing the death in action of her nephew, Private Edward Bennett. She had previously, on November 7, in a telegram from the War Department, been told the bare news that he had been “killed in action October 6, 1918.” Private Bennett was born in Bridgeport in 1894 and lived there until 5 years ago when he went to New York to work. His last few years in Bridgeport were spent in the employ of the Family Shoe store. He was drafted from Brooklyn, on May 28, 1918, and went across from Camp Devens on July 7, with the 303rd Infantry, Company M. The letter dated at Bremen, Germany December 29, 1918, follows:
“This is in answer to your letter of November 29 asking for information in regard to Private Edward Bennett. I will gladly answer the same. I knew him personally and always found him to be a very kind-hearted and pleasant chap. I was his corporal on a guard detail one night in the St. Mihiel sector, and later we both went to the Argonne Forest, Verdun sector. It was on a cloudy morning, October 6, that we went over the top at Verdun. After we had advanced about a mile, under heavy shell fire, I heard someone shout behind me, and on looking around saw young Bennett stagger and fall. Two Red Cross men in my squad went to him to carry him back to the first aid station but they found him dead. He must have died instantly. I realize it is hard to lose such a kind-hearted boy as was young Edward Bennett, but many of us went over the hill together, and only a few came back. I do not know where Edward was buried, but I saw him die on the battlefield.”
Complete burial file details are HERE and the first page is below.
Private Bennett is buried at Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Rue du Général Pershing, 55110 Romagne-Sous-Montfaucon, France; Plot A, Row 20, Grave 11.
END
Honor Norwalk CT veterans 