Hampstead Cemetery and Pilot Officer William Allen

As with some other things in life, the inspiration for this blog came from a wrong turning.

Trying to find a short cut to Brent Cross I ended up in West Hampstead; specifically at the entrance to the Hampstead cemetery.

Having lived nearby for years, but never having been in the place I thought it might be worth a look. Even from the road you could tell it had a Victorian Gothic charm (is that the right word?) to it.

Near the entrance was a white CWGC headstone commemorating Pilot Officer William George Allen, an RAF flight engineer who had died in 1944. What initially caught my eye was that he had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal. Taking a closer look I saw he was 31 when he died, pretty old for a RAF airman of the time, and that there was a poignant inscription at the bottom of the gravestone which read 'Beloved husband of Peggy and daddy of Jill.'

The final line of the inscription was badly worn but seemed to read ‘Killed [illegible] Mosquito'.

I wondered what one needed to have done to receive the medal and what that final line might refer to. Later that day I did an internet search. The DFM was awarded to non-officer flight crew who completed a tour of 30 operations.

I also discovered that Allen was a member of 35 Squadron - a unit that was equipped with the Handley Page Halifax from November 1940, but when he was killed he was with No13 MU (Maintenance Unit).

35 Squadron had an impressive history and had taken part in high-profile raids such as that on Nuremburg on 28/29 August 1942 and on Peenemunde on 17-18 August 1943.

Presumably William Allen finished his tour with 35 squadron and was then posted to No13 MU. It appears he was flying with Flight Lieutenant George Hill, a 28-year-old pilot from 245 Squadron on 31 March 1944.

At some point in their flight that day their Mosquito lost a wing in a dive and crashed at Cockayne Hatley, Bedfordshire. Hill was a fighter pilot used to flying Typhoons, though whether that has any significance is impossible to know now.

There is a short entry on 245 Squadron here: http://www.rafweb.org/Sqn241-245.htm

And 35 Squadron here: http://www.rafweb.org/Sqn031-35.htm