Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I would like to inform this House of the passing of a great Australian: Major Norman Hector Bent MBE. Norman passed away on 31 July 2006, aged 96. He began his association with my electorate of Parramatta when he joined the Royal New South Wales Lancers some 70 years ago in 1936. The Lancers is a regiment of the Australian Army that dates back to 1885, when the Sydney Light Horse was formed. Many will know the Light Horse for its service to this country in the Boer War and Gallipoli, Sinai and Palestine in World War I.

After horses were replaced by mechanised infantry and the regiment was renamed ‘the Lancers’, it continued its remarkable service to this country, pioneering the use of tanks in New Guinea in World War II and making the heaviest Australian tank attack of World War II in Borneo. The regiment was converted to a reconnaissance regiment in 1971 and remains the most highly decorated unit in history of the Australian Army. Major Norman Bent contributed significantly to the achievements of the regiment.

Norman was a country boy with little formal education. However, I am told he was an eloquent man with presence and charisma and, when he moved to the big smoke of Sydney, he put that to good use as a used car salesman. His eloquence and presence would single him out for advancement after he joined the Lancers. Norman joined the regiment in 1936 and by 1939 he was a sergeant in B Squadron. I mentioned that the Royal New South Wales Lancers made the heaviest Australian tank attack in World War II in Borneo in 1945. By this time Norman had risen in the ranks again, to captain, and was second in command of B Squadron of the regiment as it was deployed to support the 7th Australian Division in that attack. It was a successful battle which saw the enemy retreat after Australian troops had secured the beach at Balikpapan, Parramatta Ridge and Milford Highway. Hostilities with Japan ended soon after. Captain Bent, as he was then, assumed command of the regiment before all the troops were sent home.

After the war, the Lancers were reformed at Parramatta in 1947, and Norman rejoined the regiment, being promoted to major and continuing service to his country until his retirement in 1953. In 1954, after retiring, he started again by setting up an advertising agency, using the charisma and eloquence with which he was born and which had served him so well. He continued in this business for 30 years until, finally, his retirement to Avalon in 1984 partly because, I am told, he was not fond of the encroaching word processors and fax machines that were so heavily infiltrating that industry at the time.

Nevertheless, it was not a quiet retirement. He continued his association with army veterans after his retirement by helping establish the Royal Australian Armoured Corps Association, particularly in support of those members of the Armoured Division trained for service in North Africa but instead deployed in northern Australia in preparation for the Japanese invasion of this country that never came. These men were deemed eligible for neither Returned Servicemen’s League membership nor many veterans benefits afforded to those who did see overseas service. In supporting them and working for the Royal Australian Armoured Corps Association, I am told Norman was putting together a newsletter every month. It was for this service that he was awarded his MBE.

But this still was not enough for Norman. For 20 years he was also a member of the volunteer bushfire brigade at Glenhaven, where he and his family lived, again receiving awards for outstanding service. Norman continued to march in Anzac Day parades with his comrades until well into his 90s. He was a key advisor to the Royal New South Wales Lancers Memorial Museum at Parramatta and supplied to the museum cross-section diagrams of the famous Matilda tank that was so effective in Borneo. These diagrams are now publicly available for all to see. At this point I would like to thank John Howells of the museum for bringing to my attention some details about Norman’s life.

Norman was buried on 4 August 2006 at Dee Why, and he is survived by his wife, Gwyn, and his children Rosalie and Michael. His family also thanked the staff of Peter Cosgrove House, where Norman spent the twilight of his life. In addition to his family, he will be sorely missed by the regiment of the Royal New South Wales Lancers and many others who benefited from his military or business wisdom—and indeed anyone who encountered his charm, eloquence and charisma.

Major Norman Hector Bent MBE, late of Glenhaven and Avalon Beach, was a man who really made a difference. He was a great Australian, and this House should acknowledge his life as one devoted to the service and protection of his country and those who live in it. May he rest in peace.