After 4th class at RMC, Mike served in Malaysia with 1 NZ Regt and subsequently graduated from Portsea to the RNZASC in 1964. Amongst other postings he also served in South Vietnam – believed to be with an Australian unit at 1 ALSG in Vung Tau. It is understood that he received the (US) Army Commendation Medal for service at this time. It is also understood that Mike attended a long US Army course during his military career; Michael Frederick John Bent left the NZ Army on 28 January 1976. He then served on for a number of years with the NZ Territorial Force RNZASC.
Mike was married to Mary, and they had two children. He owned a weed-spraying and farm forestry business and a small farm in the King Country. In 1987, Mike worked for local government in civil defence and switched to bio-security in 1995.
Mike retired in 2001, indulging himself in cattle farming, vintage tractors and machinery, and the showing of Clydesdale Horses, which were his hobby.
In 2019, Mary Bent gave us news of Mike’s death via this website, as follows: “I would like to post that Michael died suddenly on 10 June 2019 while on holiday in Darwin. He didn't quite make his 78th birthday.”
Unfortunately, some of us missed this at the time due to various distractions like the Black Summer Bushfires, Covid-19 and the associated Lock-downs. Fortunately, some of the Class were ‘on the ball’.
The following comments and condolences are copied from Mike’s Page herein:
Chris Limbrick: Mary, please accept my sympathy, and my best wishes to you and your family.
Brian Devlin: Hi Mary, my sincerest sympathy on Mike's passing. As Kiwi's, Mike and I spent a lot of time together in our first year at Duntroon. Together we hitched from Canberra to Adelaide and stayed with the Gower family. On the way back to Melbourne we left in the evening and didn't get a ride until early the following morning. At least we had our greatcoats to keep us warm. I cannot recall where we stayed in Melbourne but I do remember going to the MCG and watching Hawthorne and Geelong playing Aussie Rules. A great person, and I was thrilled to meet him again at the reunion in Wellington; Kind regards.
Hamish Wilson: Hello Mary, Alison and I send our sympathy and best wishes.
Martin Laide: Mary, my condolences. Thanks for the post. It saddened me a great deal. Mike was a great guy and he will be missed. I met Mike and the other Kiwis in our class at South Head Barracks in Sydney where we stayed for a couple of days before going by train to start our RMC experience. Mike and the others had imbibed a few beers before I arrived. He and some of the others were very proud of the Kiwi tattoos they had done earlier in the day. The tattoos were not popular with senior cadets and it took some time to be accepted. What a great bunch Mike and the others were! Best wishes to you all.
John Long: Mary, my condolences to you and the family. Best wishes for the future.
Peter Skogstad: Mary, my condolences to you and your family.
Rodney Usback
After 4th class at RMC, Mike served in Malaysia with 1 NZ Regt and subsequently graduated from Portsea to the RNZASC in 1964. Amongst other postings he also served in South Vietnam – believed to be with an Australian unit at 1 ALSG in Vung Tau. It is understood that he received the (US) Army Commendation Medal for service at this time. It is also understood that Mike attended a long US Army course during his military career; Michael Frederick John Bent left the NZ Army on 28 January 1976. He then served on for a number of years with the NZ Territorial Force RNZASC.
Mike was married to Mary, and they had two children. He owned a weed-spraying and farm forestry business and a small farm in the King Country. In 1987, Mike worked for local government in civil defence and switched to bio-security in 1995.
Mike retired in 2001, indulging himself in cattle farming, vintage tractors and machinery, and the showing of Clydesdale Horses, which were his hobby.
In 2019, Mary Bent gave us news of Mike’s death via this website, as follows: “I would like to post that Michael died suddenly on 10 June 2019 while on holiday in Darwin. He didn't quite make his 78th birthday.”
Unfortunately, some of us missed this at the time due to various distractions like the Black Summer Bushfires, Covid-19 and the associated Lock-downs. Fortunately, some of the Class were ‘on the ball’.
The following comments and condolences are copied from Mike’s Page herein:
Chris Limbrick: Mary, please accept my sympathy, and my best wishes to you and your family.
Brian Devlin: Hi Mary, my sincerest sympathy on Mike's passing. As Kiwi's, Mike and I spent a lot of time together in our first year at Duntroon. Together we hitched from Canberra to Adelaide and stayed with the Gower family. On the way back to Melbourne we left in the evening and didn't get a ride until early the following morning. At least we had our greatcoats to keep us warm. I cannot recall where we stayed in Melbourne but I do remember going to the MCG and watching Hawthorne and Geelong playing Aussie Rules. A great person, and I was thrilled to meet him again at the reunion in Wellington; Kind regards.
Hamish Wilson: Hello Mary, Alison and I send our sympathy and best wishes.
Martin Laide: Mary, my condolences. Thanks for the post. It saddened me a great deal. Mike was a great guy and he will be missed. I met Mike and the other Kiwis in our class at South Head Barracks in Sydney where we stayed for a couple of days before going by train to start our RMC experience. Mike and the others had imbibed a few beers before I arrived. He and some of the others were very proud of the Kiwi tattoos they had done earlier in the day. The tattoos were not popular with senior cadets and it took some time to be accepted. What a great bunch Mike and the others were! Best wishes to you all.
John Long: Mary, my condolences to you and the family. Best wishes for the future.
Peter Skogstad: Mary, my condolences to you and your family.
In Memory
Rod Usback