Service Details
- Branch of Service
- Air Force
- Conflict
- World War II (1939-1945)
- Date of Enlistment
- 10/10/1944
- Date of Discharge
- 27/03/1946
- Place of Enlistment
- Sydney NSW
Personal Details
- Gender
- Male
- Other Name(s)
- Also known as "Phil Desmond"
- Date of Birth
- 09/10/1925
- Place of Birth
- Rose Bay NSW
- Address (at enlistment)
- Reid ACT
- Occupation
- Radio announcer
- Next of Kin
- Elizabeth Benjamin (wife), Reid ACT
Unit and Rank Details
- Service Number
- 166046
- Final Rank
- Leading Aircraftman
- Final Unit
- AFHQ T/U
Notes
Benjamin worked as a radio announcer for 2CA, under the name 'Phil Desmond', before enlisting. He worked at radio stations 4BH (Brisbane) and 5DN (Adelaide) while in camp in Australia and served for four months as the Australian News Commentator for the South West Pacific Area on services station WVTL on Morotai Island in Indonesia. Benjamin developed a serious eye injury on Morotai and returned to Australia in mid 1945. He married Elizabeth McCauley of Reid in October 1944 and he resumed his career at 2CA after the war. Benjamin joined radio station 2UE in Sydney as an announcer in 1952 and he and his family moved to Randwick. He died suddenly, at Prince Henry Hospital in Sydney, on 27 September 1954.
Sources
The Canberra Times - 21 July 1943, 4 October 1944, 25 July 1945, 28 September 1954
2CA Canberra Voices (Radio Heritage Foundation) - http://www.radioheritage.net/Story25.asp
WWII Nominal Roll http://www.ww2roll.gov.au