Search for unmarked grave of Indigenous ANZAC George Bennett to get government help

The Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) also committed to help with the search for the missing digger Private George Bennett this week.

Kevin Hobday has spent years tracking down records to identify Private Bennett's grave.

He now believes it's among a group of unmarked graves at Mungindi. Incredibly, he's one of two Indigenous servicemen of the First World War buried there without even a name.

But Mr Hobday needs some help to confirm his suspicion.

"I haven't had much encouragement, but I went to the archives. They kept telling me there was no records, but I've already found his autopsy and I think there's more information out there," he said.

"The authorities never went looking for him but they are now."

He's confident someone out there has the information that will identify which grave it is. They just need that person to come forward.

"If we get the right person or the right document, we can finally solve this 70 year mystery."

Mr Bennett, a Gamilaraay man, started life at the the Yuraba reserve in Northern NSW. He enlisted in Armidale in 1916, and became one of hundreds of Aboriginal diggers to fight on the western front. He took part in some of the bloodiest battles of the First World War including Bullecourt, and Passchendaele.

Private Bennett was wounded by poison gas three times. He would struggle to breathe for the rest of his life.

He was demobilised in 1919 only to return to a country where he was not a citizen and did not have voting rights. His son Len Waters won fame as probably Australia's only Indigenous fighter pilot of the Second World War.

READ MORE:

Private Bennett died in a Mungindi police cell in 1950 after he was arrested for drunkenness. He was buried two days later in an unmarked grave.

Grandson Kevin Waters, 92, can actually remember his granddad's funeral, a small service of about 10. Many of the mourners travelled there in a single taxi, he said.

"All I can say is my old grandfather was a real loner," he said.

"He had his wagon and two or three horses and three or four sheep dogs. He would go out on properties and you might see him once a year. You might see him a couple of times in two years. He was that type of man, when he came back he just kept to himself. When he hit the town, he used to hit the turps pretty heavy.

"Never ever spoke about the war. Never, no."

The battle to win recognition was given a boost last week, with Labor Senator Tim Ayres taking the case to federal parliament.

"As a nation we failed to give Private Bennett that most basic right, and many others, to die as a free man," he told the Senate, last Wednesday.

"That his grave still today goes unidentified and unrecognised by the nation he fought for remains a deep injustice."

Senator Ayres also made representations to the DVA to arrange for the proper commemoration of this grave.

The DVA this week told the Leader it had accepted Private Bennett's death was war-related. That means he will be entitled to "official commemoration" - an official memorial at his grave site, provided and maintained by the Office of Australian War Graves (OAWG), forever.

Want more local news? Subscribe to the Leader to read it here first

He already has an official commemoration; a plaque in the Queensland Garden of Remembrance.

A spokesperson for DVA said the department will also "work with the family and the local cemetery authority to confirm the grave location".

"If the gravesite identified is that of Mr Bennett, OAWG will work with the family and the local cemetery authority to discuss moving the official commemoration from the Garden of Remembrance to the gravesite at the family's request," the spokesperson said.

Mr Hobday said the official support would help the search.

He's confident he will one day discover Private Bennett's final resting place.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: