ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 225300
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| Date: | Monday 15 June 1942 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Supermarine Spitfire Mk Ia |
| Owner/operator: | 53 OTU RAF |
| Registration: | X4255 |
| MSN: | 1054 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 1 mile west of Llantwit Major, Glamorgan, Wales -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Llandow, Glamorgan |
| RAF Llandow, Glamorgan |
First Flight 21-8-40; to RAF at 6 MU Brize Norton 21-8-40. To 266 Squadron 24-8-40. To 66 Squadron as 'LZ-P'; shot down by Bf109 over Hawkinge, near Folkestone, Kent. Pilot - Pilot Officer Allan injured 11-10-40. Damaged assessed as C.2. To AST (Airwork Service Training) for repairs. After repairs, issued to 53 OTU 25-6-41.
Written off (damaged beyond repair) when engine failed on overshoot, and force-landed one mile west of Llantwit
Major, Glamorgan 15-6-42.
Details:
Built at the Eastleigh works, first flew on the 21st of August, and handed over to the RAF at No.6 MU at RAF Brize Norton that same day. Her first squadron was No. 266 on the 24th. With 66 squadron soon after and allocated the radio codes ‘LZ-P’. On the 11th of October 1940 X4255, initially thought to have been hit by a rogue Me-109 forcing Pilot Officer H.R. ‘Dizzy’ Allen to execute an emergency landing at RAF Hawkinge. The aircraft ran through the perimeter fence and barbed wire, ending up looking rather the worse for wear and with its pilot suffering from concussion. He had been in truth hit by a British AA battery on the south coast. Remarkably, and despite the extensive damage, loaded safely onto its Queen Mary trailer, ‘Dizzy’ Allen’s Spitfire headed for a repair depot, via 49 MU at Faygate. His nickname, "Dizzy", reflected his ability to escape a tight situation by executing an aerobatic flat spin.
X4255 was repaired and returned to service with 53 Operational Training Unit although fate once again took a hand. She was on finals when the pilot saw flames coming from the base of the propeller hub, in his haste he overshot the landing. P/O Sherwood had to conduct a forced landing, a mile west of Llantwit Major. This time the Spitfire was written off after running through a hedge.
Crew:
P/O A. A. Sherwood RAFVR.
Wreckage:
All removed. Exact spot yet to be found?
Additional Information:
Hubert Raymond Allen was born on 19th March 1919 and joined the RAF on a short service commission in June 1939. He commenced flying training in early June 1939 at 11 E&RFTS Perth. In late August he was posted to Hullavington after which he went to 15 FTS at Lossiemouth for further training.
Allen joined 66 Squadron at Duxford on 13th April 1940. He and two other pilots shared in damaging a Ju88 on 19th June. On 30th August Allen shared in destroying a Do17. On the 5th of September he flew on an interception patrol and was shot down by a Bf-109 that it is thought, being flown by the Luftwaffe fighter Ace Major Werner Molders. His Spitfire (N3043 ‘LZ-X’) had to be force landed at Kenley minus an aileron. He was uninjured and LZ-X was repaired. On the 9th of September he shared a He111, on the 15th he shot down a He111 and damaged a Do17, on the 18th he destroyed a Me109 and probably one on the 30th.
In October Allen was appointed 'B' Flight Commander. On the 11th he got a probable Me109 and on 14th November he destroyed a Ju87 and damaged another. Over Edenbridge on the 28th, in Spitfire P7492, Allen collided with Sgt. Willcocks in P7491. Allen baled out and landed safely but Willcocks was killed. On 11th December Allen destroyed a Me109. He was wounded in the right arm on 14th February 1941 after being jumped by Me109s. He crashed at Biggin Hill. Allen shot down a Me109 and shared another on 20th June and on 20th August he shared in the probable destruction of a Me109 off the Dutch coast. After being awarded the DFC (gazetted 22nd July 1941), Allen was promoted to Acting Squadron Leader in October 1941 and given command of 66 Squadron. He was posted away in December 1941 to 286 Squadron, which carried out anti-aircraft co-operation duties.
He married Anne Mary Cecilia Smyth-Pigott in July 1942 in Marylebone, London. On 19th August 1942, flying in a Spitfire Vb as a supernumerary with 131 Squadron, Allen attacked and damaged a Do217 over the English Channel. It was his last operational flight. In total, his score at wars end was 5 Destroyed, 3 Shared, 2 Probable with 1 shared and 3 Damaged with 1 shared.
Later in the war he became Air Advisor to the British 1st Airbourne Division and then Tactics and Gunnery Officer to No. 12 Group.
After the war Allen remained in the RAF. He commanded No.1 squadron from January to October 1946 operating the Gloster Meteor jet fighter. Then No.43 squadron from December 1949 to February 1952. Allen was a skilled pilot having moved from piston engine propeller-driven fighters to the newer generation of jets including the English Electric Lightning, which had a speed exceeding 1,000 mph.
He planned the RAF's coronation flypast in 1953. During the later Queen's Coronation Review, he arranged for 168 aircraft of varying types to fly over the Queen at RAF Odiham in a series of coordinated formations despite appalling weather conditions. As wing commander, he was Personal Staff Officer to the Chief of Staff, Allied Air Forces Central Europe and after his retirement a member of the Corps of Queens Messengers. He was a graduate of the RAF Staff College and retired on 1st January 1965 as a Wing Commander.
In 1978, Allen recorded his experiences as a combat pilot for a BBC programme in which he expressed high praise for his fellow pilots and ground staff but was critical of the radar controllers and the higher echelons of the RAF. His attitude towards those pilots who refused combat was harshly uncompromising, though such feelings were not uncommon at this time. After the Battle of Britain, he became No. 66 Squadron's commander squadron commander at age 21, succeeding Athol Forbes, with whom he later collaborated in writing, Ten Fighter Boys: 66 Squadron RAF, a collection of first-hand accounts of participants originally published in the middle of the war (1942). Allen described his time with No. 66 Squadron in Fighter Squadron 1940–1942.
Allen died on 31st May 1987.
Sources:
1. Halley, J, 1984, Royal Air force Aircraft X1000-X9999, Z1000-Z9999, p 13.
2. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p014.html
3. http://www.ggat.org.uk/timeline/pdf/Military%20Aircraft%20Crash%20Sites%20in%20Southeast%20Wales.pdf
4. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16687834
www.the-battle-of-britain.co.uk
www.bbm.org.uk
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 20-May-2019 23:38 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 25-May-2019 11:36 | stehlik49 | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location] |
| 07-Jun-2022 18:32 | Davies 62 | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
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