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2nd Lt. Gerald Bensted
British Army 45th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery
from:60 Buckland Road, Maidstone
2Lt. Gerald Bensted manned the Forward Observation Post for the unit from around April 1918 to at least August 1918, observing the accuracy etc of shelling for the Left Section, 45th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery and other units in the area, as well as observing and reporting on troop movements and activity on land and in the air. He kept a diary of each days' observations and reported these back to the adjutant of the 72nd Brigade RGA to which the battery was attached.
He survived the war and returned home to his wife and children. Amongst my grandfather's (RSM Robert Buckingham Dimmock, RFA) belongings I have found the diary of Lt. Gerald Bensted from 100 years ago. This is titled 'Sick Report' on the outside, and contains the alternate pages of the notepad with the carbon copy writing. The original handwritten sheets presumably having been removed and sent back as his regular report, leaving the copies in the notepad. Some of the writing is consequently rather faint, but most is readable. It also has map references relating to his observations. The content of this observation post diary matches entries in the War Diary for the unit held in the National Archives, Kew. Lt. Gerald Bensted appears in the War Diary where he made the entries for earlier months e.g. January 1918
