Lieutenant General Henry Gordon Bennett, (15 April 1887 – 1 August 1962) was a senior Australian Army officer who served in both World War I and World War II. Despite highly decorated achievements during World War I, during which he commanded at both battalion and brigade level and became the youngest general in the Australian Army, Bennett is best remembered for his role in the Battle of Singapore in February 1942 in the Pacific War. As commander of the 8th Australian Division, he escaped while his men became prisoners of the Imperial Japanese Army. After this, Bennett's military career waned and, although he rose to command a corps, he never again commanded troops in battle. In 1945, his escape caused controversy and resulted in a Royal Commission and military enquiry. Both found that he had been unjustified in relinquishing his command. A citizen soldier, before World War I Bennett had worked in the insurance industry and at the conclusion of hostilities pursued his commercial interests while continuing to serve in the military in a part-time capacity, commanding at brigade and divisional level. He retired from the Army after World War II and turned to farming in the Hills District. He remained active in the world of business and as a military commentator, before dying at the age of 75. Early life Bennett (who was always known as Gordon) was born in Balwyn, Melbourne, on 15 April 1887, to George Bennett, a South African-born school teacher, and his Australian-born wife, Harriet. He was the sixth of nine children and attended Balwyn State School, where his father taught, and then Hawthorn College as a teenager having been given a three-year scholarship. While at Hawthorn, he did well at mathematics and in 1903, as a 16-year-old, after completing a competitive examination he was accepted into the AMP Society to train as an actuary. In May 1908, just after he turned 21, Bennett volunteered to serve in the Militia, Australia's reserve military force, joining the 5th Australian Infantry Regiment as a "recruit officer". After completing a six-month part-time course, he was appointed as a provisional second lieutenant, and posted to the regiment's 'B' Company, in Carlton, Victoria. He continued to work at AMP during this time, but devoted most of his spare time to his military duties and rose in rank quickly, reaching major in 1912, at the age of 25, when he became