Background
Bennett was born in Rotorua, New Zealand on 27 July 1913, one of 19 children of Frederick Augustus Bennett of Ngati Whakaue of Te Arawa, and his second wife, Arihia Ngarangioue (Rangioue) Hemana (or Pokiha).
Bennett was born in Rotorua, New Zealand on 27 July 1913, one of 19 children of Frederick Augustus Bennett of Ngati Whakaue of Te Arawa, and his second wife, Arihia Ngarangioue (Rangioue) Hemana (or Pokiha).
Of Māori descent, he identified with the Ngati Pikiao and Ngati Whakaue iwi. He obtained a Bachelor in 1936 from Canterbury University College. Greece and Crete
Charles Bennett joined the 28th (Maori) Battalion at the outbreak of war in 1939.
He underwent officer training at Trentham Military Camp, embarking overseas in May 1940 as a second lieutenant in B Company.
On Lieutenant-Colonel George Dittmer"s staff he fought in Greece and Crete. He led an intelligence unit responsible for reconnaissance, speaking on the radio in Maori.
In November 1941 Bennett was promoted to captain. North Africa
By October 1942 Bennett was a major commanding B Company.
Early in November his two superiors were wounded in fighting near Tel el Aqqakir, and Bennett then commanded the Māori Battalion, being promoted lieutenant-colonel (the youngest battalion commander in the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force).
In March 1943 at Tebaga Gap, Tunisia, Bennett ordered a successful attack on Point 209 (Hikurangi to the Māoris) which resulted in Lieutenant Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu being awarded a posthumous Venture capital, and Bennett the Defence Science Organisation. In April, during the fighting at Takrouna and Djebel Berda, Bennett was severely wounded by a mine and was invalided home. His recovery took three years, and left him lame. With Major-General Howard Kippenberger Bennett worked on the Māori Battalion’s history with the War History Branch of the Department of Internal Affairs.
He became an interpreter at Internal Affairs.
On 10 October 1947, in Wellington, Bennett married Elizabeth May Richardson (née Steward). Although the thesis was not completed, in January 1959 he became New Zealand"s high commissioner to the Federation of Malaya (later Malaysia).
He was President of the Labour Party from 1972 to 1976, and stood for Labour in the Rotorua electorate in the 1969 general election. He was awarded an honorary doctorate (Doctor of Laws) from the University of Canterbury in 1973, and knighted in the 1975 Birthday Honours, He was a patron of the Electoral Reform Coalition.
Bennett died in Tauranga on 26 November 1998.
During the tangihanga, the traditional Māori funeral rite, the New Zealand Defence Force announced that their crest will be changed from the traditional two crossed swords to a sword crossed with a taiaha, the traditional Māori weapon, in Bennett"s honour.