The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (409130) Sergeant William James Allan, No. 166 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Second World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Charis May, the story for this day was on (409130) Sergeant William James Allan, No. 166 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Second World War.

409130 Sergeant William James Allan, No. 166 Squadron, Royal Air Force
KIA 31 March 1944
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 18 January 2016

Today we pay tribute to Sergeant William James Allan, who was killed while serving with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.

Born in Yarrawonga, Victoria, on 10 June 1921, William James Allan was the son of James Harold Allan and Linda Rosalind Allan. Growing up in Melbourne, Allan attended Ashburton Primary School and De La Salle College in Malvern. A keen sportsman, he played football, cricket, and tennis.

Allan left school at a young age to study Wool Classing at Melbourne Technical College. Prior to enlisting in the Royal Australian Air Force on 19 July 1941 he worked as an assistant wool classer for Ralph A. Stuart in Melbourne, as well as a junior clerk for Australian Mercantile. Residing in the Melbourne suburb of Murrumbeena, Allan had previously served in the 10th Field Battery of the Militia.

Following his enlistment Allan began training as an air gunner, and in August 1942 he embarked for overseas service. As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme, Allan was one of almost 27,500 RAAF pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners, and engineers who joined squadrons based in Britain throughout the course of the war.

Allan undertook further specialist training in Britain before being posted to No. 625 Squadron, Royal Air Force. His service was littered with disciplinary problems, the most severe of which being found in possession of property that belonged to a local townsperson, and for once being absent without leave when his squadron was to fly on an operation. For the latter he faced a trial by court-martial and was demoted.

In December 1943 Allan was transferred to Squadron No. 166. As part of the RAFs Bomber Command, the squadron was equipped with the four-engine Avro Lancaster heavy bomber.

On 31 March 1944 the Lancaster in which Allan was the rear gunner was participating in a raid on the German city of Nuremburg, when it was attacked and shot down by an enemy fighter. The aircraft crashed at an aerodrome at Giessen, north of Frankfurt, and Allan and four of his crewmates – including fellow Australian Flight Sergeant Douglas Venning Harvey – were killed.

The bodies of the recovered crew are buried side by side in the British and Commonwealth War Cemetery in Hanover, Germany. Sergeant William Allan was 22 years old.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among 40,000 others who died serving in the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Sergeant William James Allan, and all of those Australians – as well as our Allies and brothers in arms – who gave their lives for their nation.

Dr Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section