Kenneth Lyle Bennett 1936-2023

Radio Operator at Mawson, Wilkes, Davis and Macquarie Island between 1960 and 1986

A veteran of seven winters, Kenneth Lyle Bennett, or KB as he was known to most, died on 9th August 2023.

Ken was born in Parramatta, New South Wales on 15th January 1936.  He attended school in Sydney, conducted by the Marist Brothers.  On leaving school, he worked for the Postmaster General’s Department, where he learned, among other things, morse code.  His first trip to Antarctica was in 1960 when he went to Mawson as a Radio Officer.  He was one of three expeditioners on a seven-week dog trip to the Napier Mountains in Enderby Land, and has a mountain in that area named in his honour.

Ken returned to Antarctica in 1965, as Radio Officer at Wilkes.  This was followed by a year at Mawson I 1967 as Radio-Officer-in-Charge and 2IC of the station.  He was awarded the Polar Medal for that year.  In 1969, Ken was at Davis as Radio Officer and 2IC, in 1973 he went to Macquarie Island as Radio Officer and returned there in 1976 as Radio- Officer-in-Charge and in 1982 as Communications Officer.  During the years at Macquarie, Ken ran the greenhouse, growing fresh herbs and vegetables (at least those that the insects and rabbits didn’t destroy).

Apart from his years with the Antarctic Division, Ken was an astute real estate investor in Queensland, a keen bushwalker and was able to travel throughout the country for much of the year in his caravan.  He lived in various parts of the Sunshine Coast, Tasmania and parts of Victoria before settling on the New South Wales Coast.