Samuel Westwood Benton was born in Great Wakering, Essex, in 1886 to affluent parents. Samuel was one of seven children: three boys and four girls. Samuel and his brothers were all educated at Bancroft’s School in Woodford.
After school, Samuel became a clerk at the Prudential Insurance Company. In 1911, he was living at 33 Leicester Road, Wanstead, with his mother and three of his siblings. At the outbreak of war, Samuel left his job and enlisted with the 16th (County of London) Battalion (Queen’s Westminster Rifles). He served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders, Belgium, from 4th July 1915.
Samuel was reported missing after fighting at Gommecourt on the first day of the battle of the Somme. He was eventually assumed to have been killed there, on or around 1st July 1916. He left all his effects to his widowed mother. His grave is in Gommecourt British Cemetery No.2, France.
Research by Redbridge Museum
Sources:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Ancestry.com
For more information on this individual please see The Old Bancroftian website.