William Allen Canadian Expeditionary Force
1892 – 1941
William Allen was born in Pucklechurch, Bristol and emigrated to Canada in 1911. In January 1916 he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, the 65th Overseas Battalion, many of whom were British born.
He was wounded in 1916 and arrived at Beaufort on the 7th November. He had sustained an injury to his left arm which had to be amputated in France. He also had head wounds and shrapnel lodged in his skull. At Beaufort his arm was operated on again. This injury put Allen out of the army; he was discharged in August 1917 and returned to Canada.
After the First World War he married Gwendolen Maud Woodward in 1936. With a degree from the University of Saskatchewan and a PhD from Harvard and Cornell he founded the Department of Farm Management at Saskatchewan where he worked until his resignation in 1938.
He enlisted again in the Second World War. He was listed as missing, presumed dead when the steam ship Nerissa which he was travelling on, was torpedoed by a German submarine U-552 off the coast of Ireland, on April 30th, 1941.