In April 1942, No. 77 Squadron was transferred to Coastal Command and Bennett was given command of No. 10 Squadron (Handley Page Halifax) and shortly afterwards led a raid on the German battleship "Tirpitz". Shot down during that raid, he evaded capture and escaped to Sweden, from where he was able to return to Britain; he and his copilot were awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on 16 June 1942. In July 1942, Bennett was appointed to command the new Pathfinder Force, an elite unit tasked with improving RAF Bomber Command's navigation. At this stage of the war, Bomber Command had begun to make night-time raids deep into Germany, but had not yet been able to cause significant damage, largely because only about a quarter of the bomb loads were delivered "on target" — and this at a time when "on target" was defined as within three miles of the aim point. Pathfinder Force was set up to lead the bomber stream to the target areas and drop markers for the remainder of the force to aim at. Later in the war, the Pathfinder Force would be equipped with a range of newly developed and often highly effective electronic aids, but the initial object was to simply take experienced crews with standard equipment and hone their navigation skills. Having already demonstrated that he could pass on his meticulous navigational ability to others, Bennett was an obvious choice for the role, yet nevertheless a surprising one. The Air Ministry's Directorate of Bomber Operations had for some time been pushing to establish an elite precision bombing force, but Bomber Command AOC-in-C Air Chief Marshal Arthur Harris was implacably opposed to the idea on the grounds that it would "lower the morale" of the other squadrons. When Harris learned that Vice-Chief of the Air Staff Sir Wilfrid Freeman planned to order the change, and that the strong-willed Basil Embry would probably be given command of the new force, Harris bowed to the inevitable, but was given a "more or less free hand" in selection of the force commander. He chose to appoint Bennett without considering other candidates. Harris described Bennett as "the most efficient airman I have ever met". Bennett was called to Bomber Command HQ when he was on the point of leaving with his squadron for the Middle East. There he was informed by Harris that he was to lead a special force to make use of the new bombing and navigational aids then available and the more sophisticated ones that would follow. With effect of the 5 July he was promoted to group captain.