Ivan was the son of Frederick James and Esther Maria Bennett, of Lowestoft, Suffolk. He was 21 years of age when he was killed in action aboard HMS Arethusa.

Ivan's Great Nephew, 8 year old Liam Short, left the following message about his Great Uncle...

My Great Uncle Ivan was in the Royal Navy in World War 2 His name was Ivan Frederick William Bennett. He was a sailor on HMS Arethusa. He was 20 years old. On 18th November 1942, the ship was in the Malta convoy. It was just getting dark, when German bombers appeared. They swooped down and torpedoed the ship. Great Uncle Ivan was at B turret, just where a torpedo hit. He was killed, and so were about 150 of the 500 sailors on board. He got 4 medals. In April 1942, his brother was killed on board HMS Hermes. He was 17 years old. He was my Great Uncle Roy

6th March 2006, I received the above photograph along with this message from Ivan's neice Jill.

I was very moved to discover the message on the HMS Arethusa website, from 8 year old Liam Short detailing the last hours of Able Seaman Ivan Frederick William Bennett who was killed in action on HMS Arethusa.
Ivan and his brother Roy (also mentioned) who died on HMS Hermes were much loved brothers of my late mother Evelyn (and my Aunt Mary who has left a message in the guestbook).
It is chilling to realise just how young they were.
I wonder if you could include the attached picture. Ivan is on the right, his mother Esther Maria Bennett in the centre and Roy on the left.
They were obviously very proud of their uniform ( & rightly so) and eager for a great adventure at sea, however you can't help notice how worried my Grandmother looked.