Harry Herbert Bennett (January 17, 1892 – January 4, 1979), was a boxer, Naval sailor, and businessman. From the 1920s through 1945, he worked for Ford Motor Company and was best known as the head of Ford’s "service department", the company's internal security agency. While working for Henry Ford, Bennett's union-busting tactics made him an enemy of the United Auto Workers (UAW) trade union. He gained infamy for his involvement in activities such as in the Battle of the Overpass, a 1937 incident where UAW members protesting for higher wages were assaulted by Ford security guards. He had various residences in Michigan, including the Great Lakes Landmark and Ford Motor Company; built Pagodahouse, the Asian-themed boathouse on Grosse Ile, MI; Bennett's Lodge near Farwell, a log cabin-style house in East Tawas; and Bennett's Castle, an estate located on the Huron River in Ypsilanti, where he kept pet lions and tigers. After being fired by Henry Ford II in 1945, Bennett left Michigan to live in California. On January 4, 1979, Bennett died in Los Gatos, California, of undisclosed causes. Biography Harry Bennett was born in 1892. He went to common schools. As a youth, Bennett started competing in boxing and won some city bouts. He served in the Navy during World War I. Career In the early days of Ford Motor Company, a security department operated under the name of the Ford Service Department. It was to try to control the growing labor unrest and suppress the emerging labor unions. Ford had instituted a policy called "speed up", by which the speed of the assembly lines was increased slightly every week, and employees were feeling the strain. The labor issues sometimes led to violent clashes between Ford's management, the police, and some workers. Henry Ford needed someone able to handle rough situations as head of his Service Department. Ford Service Department Harry Bennett served as the head of the Ford Motor Company Service Department for over two decades, beginning in 1921. Bennett was and in great physical shape due to his years of boxing and service in the Navy. Legend traces Bennett's relationship to Ford Motor Company to a 1916 street brawl in New York City. At the time, Bennett, 24, was a sailor and was just off his ship. He was saved from being thrown into jail by an acquaintance of Henry Ford, Bernie Ghers, who happened to witness