Wally Bennett participated in the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915 (Doxsee's House near Kitchener's Wood) and was badly wounded in July near Ploegsteert. He was evacuated to England and for a time was a machine gun instructor. He was later declared unfit for active service and posted to the War Records Office in London in Lord Beaverbrook's office. Sgt. Bennett was the model for the Colt machine-gunner in the 1917 painting by Richard Jack, "Second Battle of Ypres, 22 April to 25 May 1915". After his decharge in 1919; Bennett joined Sir John F. Parry's Gold Coast expedition, returning to England in Juni 1920. In July he returned home to Calgary. His diary ends on August 9, 1920 with the cryptic entry, "Returned to work".