Born on the 7th of October 1917 at Quirindi, New South Wales to Ernest and Linda, Allan was the youngest of 3 children.
Working as a labourer in Gloucester District Allan gave his father of Carricabark via Barrington as his next of kin when he enlisted at Gloucester on the 27th of June 1940. On the 28th of August 1940 Allan was taken on strength with the 1st Initial Training Battalion and was then transferred to the 4th Initial Training Battalion on the 23rd of September. He was admitted to hospital suffering with the measles on the 1st of November and he rejoined his unit on the 9th of November. After arriving he was then transferred to the 2/30th Bn on the 12th of November, all based at Tamworth, NSW.
Allan was posted to the newly formed No. 1 Independent Company was formed and was detached to the No. 7 Infantry Training Centre at Darby River on Wilsons Promontory in Victoria on the 8th of May. Originally the company was raised to serve in the Middle East although, at that time there was uncertainty about the role that the company would fill there. Indeed, within the Australian Army there was a section that saw no need for the independent companies, believing that they would prove to be more of a drain on resources than anything else. However, later in 1941, as the threat of war with Imperial Japan loomed, the main body of the company was sent to Kavieng, New Ireland, to protect Kavieng airfield whilst other sections were sent to Namatanai on New Ireland, Vila in the New Hebrides, Tulagi on Guadalcanal, Buka on Bougainville, and Lorengau on Manus Island to act as observers and provided medical treatment to the inhabitants. Following pre-embarkation leave between the 20th and the 30th of June, Allen embarked aboard the HMAT ‘Z’ on the 12th of July to disembark and be transferred to 2MD on the 24th of July at Kavieng.
In the event of an invasion of New Britain by the Japanese the 1st Independent Company was under orders to resist long enough to destroy key airfields and other military installations such as fuel dumps, before withdrawing south to wage a guerrilla war. They did not have to wait very long, as on the 21st of January 1942, a preparatory bombing raid by about sixty Japanese aircraft attacked Kavieng. A number of aircraft were shot down, however, the company’s only means of escape, the schooner ‘Induna Star’ was damaged. Nevertheless, despite the damage the crew managed to sail the vessel to Kaut where they started to repair the damage. As they did so, the commandos withdrew across the island to Sook, having received word that a large Japanese naval force was approaching the island.
In the early morning of the 22nd of January 1942, the Japanese landed at Kavieng with between 3,000 and 4,000 troops. As the lead Japanese troops reached Kavieng airfield, fighting broke out as the small force that had remained at the airfield blew up the supply dump and other facilities. Fighting their way out, the commandos withdrew towards the main force at Sook, although a number of men were captured in the process. Once the company had regrouped at Sook, on the 28th of January they withdrew further south to Kaut, where they helped with the repair of the Induna Star, before setting out along the east coast of the island. They reached Kalili Harbour on the 31st of January but after learning that the fighting on New Britain was over and that the Japanese had occupied Rabaul, it was decided to sail for Port Moresby.
On the 2nd of February the schooner was sighted by a Japanese plane which subsequently attacked, causing considerable damage to the vessel as well as destroying one of its lifeboats and causing a number of casualties. The Induna Star began taking on water and as a result the men were forced to surrender. Under escort by a Japanese aircraft and then later a destroyer, they were instructed to sail to Rabaul where they became prisoners of war.
After a few months at Rabaul, the officers were separated from their NCOs and men. The officers were transported to Japan where they remained in captivity for the rest of the war, whilst the NCOs and men, along with other members of Lark Force that had been captured and a number of civilians, where put on to the Japanese passenger ship Montevideo Maru for transportation. Traveling unescorted, the Montevideo Maru sailed from Rabaul on the 22nd of June. On the 1ar of July, the ship was sighted by an American submarine, the USS Sturgeon, off the coast of the Luzon, Philippines. The USS Sturgeon torpedoed and sunk the Montevideo Maru, without realising it was a prisoner of war vessel. Only a handful of the Japanese crew were rescued, with none of the between 1,050 and 1,053 prisoners aboard surviving as they were still locked below deck. All 133 men from No. 1 Independent Company who were aboard the Montevideo Maru were either killed or drowned.
On the 22nd of August Allan was reported missing believed POW- New Guinea and later was reported ‘Died at Sea’ (Montevideo Maru in the South China Sea on the 1st of July 1942, aged 24 years. The sinking is considered the worst maritime disaster in Australia’s history.
