LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant William Alexander McMeekin ALLEN
Service No: 400198
Born: Armadale VIC, 19 May 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 July 1940
Unit: No. 144 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station North Luffenham
Died: Air Operations: (No. 144 Squadron Hampden aircraft AT187), Lincolnshire, 11 April 1942, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Sutton Bridge (St Matthew) Churchyard
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Alexander and Ethel Isabel Duncan Allen; husband of Betty Allen, of Windsor, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Loch VIC
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the night of 10 April 1942 Hampden AT187 took off from North Luffenham detailed to bomb Essen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base.
W R Chorley states “the aircraft crashed at 0245 hours on 11 April 1942, while trying to make an emergency landing at Wrights Farm, Holbeach, Lincolnshire.” Three of the crew members were killed and one was injured.
The crew members of AT187 were:
Sergeant William Alexander McMeekin Allen (400198) (Observer)
Sergeant Georgie Frederick Johnston (1118841) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant D H Smith (778373) (RAFVR) (Pilot) Injured
Sergeant Frank Woodfield (954449) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Chorley W R, Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 3 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1942, Midland Counties Publications UK, 1994
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163//87/176