ABOUT JOHN BENSON

Older man in tan coat drinking from a glass at a bar, with binoculars hanging around his neck, and a man in glasses in the background.

JOHN BENSON WAS A LINCOLNSHIRE HISTORIAN AND AUTHOR WHO DEDICATED A SIGNIFICANT PART OF HIS LIFE TO PRESERVING THE STORY OF THE COUNTRIES MOST DISTINGUISHED REGIMENT. HIS THREE BOOKS WERE NOT SIMPLY THE WORK OF A HISTORIAN, THEY WERE A WORK OF LOVE. JOHN WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT THE MEN WHO WORKED AND SACRIFICED FOR THEIR COUNTRY WOULD NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. THESE BOOKS SHOW A LASTING TRIBUTE TO THEM.

JOHN’S FIRST BOOK, SATURDAY NIGHT SOLDIERS, TOLD THE STORY OF THE FOURTH BATTALION OF THE LINCOLNSHIRE REGIMENT. JOHN TRACKED DOWN VETERANS, COLLECTED PHOTOGRAPHS AND ASSEMBLED AN HONOUR TO ENURE EVERY MAN WHO SERVED WAS RECORDED BY NAME.

JOHN’S SECOND BOOK, THE LINCOLNS, TOLD THE FULL STORY OF THE LINCOLNSHIRE REGIMENT IN PICTURES - FROM ITS BEGINNINGS IN 1685 ALL THE WAY THROUGH TO 1960 WHEN THE REGIMENT CAME TO AN END. JOHN SPENT ALOT OF TIME GETTING OVER 400 PHOTOGRAPHS AND IMAGES, THAT WHEN COME TOGETHER, THEY CREATE A VIVID PICTURE OF THE EXPERIENCE THROUGH THOSE THAT LIVED THROUGH IT.

JOHN’S THIRD BOOK, ALL THE KINGS ENEMIES, WAS WRITTEN WITH JACK BARTLETT. HE WAS A VETERAN WHO HAD SERVED WITH THE 60TH FIELD REGIMENT FROM DUNKIRK ALL THE WAY TO BURMA. JACK PASSED AWAY JUST BEFORE THE BOOK HAD FINISHED. THEREFORE IT WAS JOHN THAT MADE SURE THE WORK WAS FINISHED.