P.E.I. veteran and military advocate Blanche Bennett dies at 101

Blanche Bennett, a Second World War veteran from Summerside, P.E.I., who was known for her remarkable memory and her allegiance to the Canadian military, died last week at the age of 101.

"She would have been 102 in November of this year and she remembered everything," said her youngest daughter, Barbara Bennett Spence.

"And right until Thursday evening at 7:45 of this past week, she was chatting and talking to those of us who were surrounding her in her room, and she was ready to have a very good rest."

Bennett, then Blanche Landry, served as a switchboard operator in the Canadian Women's Army Corps in Halifax from 1942 to 1945. She made lifelong friends with her fellow veterans, Bennett Spence said. 

"We do actually have a photo of them at the switchboard with that sign above the girls' heads at the switchboard that says 'Loose Lips Sink Ships,'" she said.

That was back when the phrase was a literal warning, given the importance of not revealing any information that could help German U-boats target Allied vessels crossing the Atlantic. 

Blanche Bennett, dead at 101, remembered for remembering veterans

4 months ago

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Blanche (Landry) Bennett died on Aug. 1 at the age of 101. At her funeral in Cornwall, P.E.I., she was honoured for her service in the Second World War and her tireless work on behalf of veterans for decades afterward.

Wartime was also when Bennett met her husband of 61 years, Murray, at a dance. 

She was a military spouse for the next 60 years, relocating 28 times within Canada and overseas. 

In 1955, for example, Bennett Spence said her mother took her three young daughters by herself on a Cunard liner from Halifax to France, where Murray was posted at the time.

"She was very brave little Islander," Bennett's daughter said. 

Bennett Spence, who herself would go on to serve in the military, said her mother was proud to be a veteran and it "was probably the most important thing after being a mother."  

Ray Gaudet of the Kingston Legion said Bennett was respected for her tireless work on behalf of veterans, selling poppies and contributing to Remembrance Day ceremonies.

Gaudet was one of about a dozen veterans who showed up in uniform, proudly displaying their medals, at Bennett's funeral Tuesday in Cornwall.

"She was a strong advocate for veterans," he said.

"Being kind of one of the modern veterans, it's special for me… When I was asked if I would be a pallbearer, I was honoured to do so."

Along with Bennett Spence, Bennett is survived by daughters Joan MacNeil and Patty Bennett as well as her sister Elma Sonier.