Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

 
ALLEN Daniel  #2762  42nd Infantry Battalion
 
Daniel Allen was born in Brisbane and attended Brisbane Central State School (sometimes referred to as Brisbane Normal). When Daniel reported to the Brisbane Recruiting Depot in Adelaide Street on 19th October 1916, he reported that he was 31 years old and worked as a labourer, although his mother when completing the Roll of Honour circular stated his occupation as storeman. Daniel gave his address as Alfred Street, Fortitude Valley where he lived with his widowed mother, Annie Allen. There appears no obvious connection between Daniel and the Redcliffe area from the records available. It is possible that his name was added to the memorial by a relative or friend, or that he and his family holidayed at Redcliffe.
 
During the latter half of 1916, the AIF Divisions on the Western Front had suffered significant losses at Fromelles, Pozieres, Mouquet Farm and Flers. As the casualty lists began to appear in newspapers, recruitment declined severely, so much so that the Australian government resolved to conduct a plebiscite regarding conscription to ensure the necessary reinforcements. The plebiscite was to take place on 28th October, nine days after Daniel enlisted. It is possible that the flood of publicity surrounding the conscription debate influenced Daniel’s decision to enlist.
 
Daniel reported to the Rifle Range Camp at Enoggera on the same day as his enlistment and was placed temporarily into a depot battalion before being allocated as a reinforcement for the 42nd Infantry Battalion which at that time was in camp in England, preparing to see service on the Western Front.
 
Barely two months after entering camp, Daniel enjoyed a period of home leave before boarding a train for Sydney where the 6th reinforcements for the 42nd Battalion embarked on the “Demosthenes” on 23rd December 1916. The embarkation roll shows that Daniel had allocated 3/- of his daily pay to his mother. The reinforcements landed at Plymouth on 3rd March 1917 and marched in to the 11th Training Battalion at Durrington Camp. The 42nd Battalion was already in France preparing for their role in the Battle of Messines which was planned for June of that year.
 
Daniel and the other 25 reinforcements finally crossed the English Channel from Southampton on 30th July and made their way via Rouen to the rear areas behind the front where they were taken on strength by the 42nd on 18th August.
 
The Flanders campaign, which had begun in June 1917, had produced relative successes initially with gains at Menin Road, Polygon Wood and Broodseinde. By the beginning of October, almost incessant rain combined with the explosions of thousands of artillery shells had churned the battlefield into a sea of mud into which men, animals and ordnance became stuck or in some cases simply disappeared. In spite of the appalling conditions, British command ordered the offensive to push on to the small village of Passchendaele.
 
The 11th Brigade of the 3rd Australian Division, which included the 42nd Battalion, moved up to the start line near Zonnebeke on 4th October for an attack on the Passchendaele Ridge. The 42nd suffered over 200 casualties killed, wounded or missing before being withdrawn briefly before being sent in as a reserve on the evening of 11th October in the same location. The battalion war diary made a point of pointing out the abnormal conditions caused by the flooding rains and the subsequent exhaustion and loss of morale as men huddled in flooded trenches often up to their waists while artillery rained down. Casualties were again heavy.
 
It was reported that Daniel Allen had been killed in action on 12th October, probably hit by an artillery shell. Passchendaele was Daniel’s first exposure to the horrors of war. He had been on the frontline only two months. Daniel’s mother Annie, when advised of her son’s loss wrote to base records requesting more information, which the authorities were unable to provide. She did eventually receive a parcel of his personal belongings which included a fountain pen, 2 razors and photographs as well as an identity disc.
 
Annie continued to write requesting information into the location of Daniel’s remains and enquiries made to the Red Cross also proved unhelpful. In 1920, Annie wrote again advising the authorities that a comrade of Daniel’s had advised her that Daniel was buried near Abraham Heights near Zonnebeke. She was told that there was no fighting in that location. An inspection of the battalion war diary confirms that there had been companies of the 42nd in that location. In spite of the tireless efforts by the Imperial War Graves Commission to locate and reinter the remains of those killed on the Flanders battlefields, Daniel’s remains have never been located.
 
Daniel Allen is one of almost 54,000 Empire soldiers whose names appear on the tablets of the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing. Each evening since 1928, with only a short hiatus during enemy occupation 1940/45, the citizens of Ypres honour the memory of those missing with a commemorative ceremony at the Menin Gate that includes the recitation of the Ode and playing of the last post.

Daniel's parents were Daniel Allen and Annie Hughes. He was 31 and unmarried when he enlisted in October 1916. Daniel was killed in action in Belgium in October 1917 and has no known grave. Members of the Hughes family were regular visitors to Redcliffe in those days.