Notes
The Roll lists his address as Scotney Street. It records that he was awarded long service & good conduct medals, and that he had also received a Royal Humane Society medal on 26th January 1907, for life-saving. It records his rank as Petty Officer, which differs from official records.
(CWGC records that Chief Petty Officer George Thomas Bentley, service number 154411(CH), was serving on HMS Faulknor when he died aged 39 on 26/8/1914, and that he is buried in grave E.21.11 at Haslar Royal Naval Cemetery in Hampshire; they record him as the son of George & Matilda Bentley of Peterborough. George's Navy service record, held by The National Archives under reference ADM/188/ piece 223, indicates that he was born in Peterborough on 28/3/1875, and joined the Navy on 28/3/1893 (his 18th birthday); it records the numerous vessels on which he served, and that he rose through the ranks to become Chief Petty Officer on 15/4/1904; that on 19/8/1914 he transferred from HMS Pembroke to HMS Dido (Faulknor); and that he drowned in the tidal basin in Portsmouth. On 7/9/1914, in an article headed "Naval Man's Tragic Death", the Portsmouth Evening News reported the inquest regarding George's death by drowning, describing him as a "very brave fellow" who was not worried by the prospect of War service, but who had been experiencing an "exceptionally arduous time". In light of witness statements regarding his mood during the 24 hours preceding his death, combined with the fact that his body had been found with an iron davit tied to his right ankle, the inquest verdict was "suicide during temporary insanity").