ALLEN, Horace Beresford
| Service Number: | 3348 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 2 August 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 52nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Traralgon, Victoria, Australia, 1890 |
| Home Town: | Subiaco, Nedlands, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Killed in action, Mouquet Farm, France, 4 September 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Subiaco Fallen Soldiers Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 2 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3348, 12th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 3348, 12th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Benalla embarkation_ship_number: A24 public_note: '' | |
| 1 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 3348, 12th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Benalla, Fremantle | |
| 4 Sep 1916: | Involvement Corporal, 3348, 52nd Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3348 awm_unit: 52nd Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Corporal awm_died_date: 1916-09-04 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Horace Beresford Allen was a champion gymnast of Western Australia and a very handy long-distance runner. In 1914, in the competition for the Hedges Cup, Horace Allen was declared champion gymnast of the State. During 1912, he finished second to his brother, Leslie Allen, in the 10 Mile Amateur Inter-Club Championship of the State. He was working in the Land Titles office in Perth, Western Australia when he enlisted during 1915. His brother, Leslie George Allen had already enlisted in the 28th Battalion. They were the sons of Alfred and Alice Allen of Subiaco, Western Australia.
Horace was allotted to the 52nd Battalion in Egypt and was promoted to Lance Corporal and Corporal soon after. During the 52nd Battalion’s attack on Mouquet Farm, during very heavy fighting, Corporal Allen was reported missing. In Allen’s Red Cross Wounded and Missing file there is a detailed report from Private James Coppin, “Horace Allen and Roy Sanders were quite inseparable friends and I am sure, as the sun brings morning, that they passed over together, hand in hand. I have been closely connected with them since we first entered camp, fifteen months ago, and you know during that time and when sharing the same tents, one is able to form an opinion as to their characters. They were both clean living boys and splendid specimens of men physically, through constant gymnastic training, and they were two, the battalion could ill afford, to lose. As far as I can see there is no hope at all they could be alive and it would be unkind to make believe otherwise.”
His death was confirmed by an AIF Court of Enquiry during April 1917. His brother, Leslie went on to become a Captain in the 28th Battalion and was decorated for gallantry with a Military Cross.
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