LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant William Albert McALLEN
Service No: 407294
Born: Semaphore SA, 14 July 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 17 August 1940
Unit: No. 99 Squadron (RAF), RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 99 Squadron Wellington aircraft L7893), North West Europe, 15 November 1941, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Sydney George and Rhilda Victoria May McAllen, of Balhannah, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Port Adelaide SA
Remembered: Panel 62, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Wellington L7893 of No. 99 (Madras Presidency) Squadron took off from RAF Waterbeach at 1720 hours on 15 November 1941 to bomb Emden, Germany. A signal was received from the aircraft at 2120 hours, but thereafter nothing was heard and the aircraft did not return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew had no known grave.
The crew members of L7893 were:
Sergeant Ronald Llewellyn Cooke (968394) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Bernard John Dermody (R/68108) (RCAF)
Sergeant Dennis Edward Hall (1108004) (RAFVR)
Sergeant William Albert McAllen (407294) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Thomas Crawford Bentley Patterson (402891) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Leonard Ronald Townsend (921516) (RAFVR)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/141/381