Flt Lt Mike Allen DFC - Signed Aviation Prints

Flt Lt Mike Allen DFC

Michael Seamer Allen was born in Croydon, Surrey on March 15th 1925, and educated at Hurstpierpoint College, Sussex. He then studied mechanical engineering at night school before being apprenticed to Fairey Aviation. Mike Allen managed with the help of his father to get Fairey Aviaiton to release him, so that he could join the RAF. Allen joined the RAF as a navigator in June 1941 and two months later was paired with Harry White at No 54 Training Unit, at Church Fenton, Yorkshire. They remained together throughout the war. They both joined No 29, a Beaufighter night squadron at West Malling, in Kent before going to No.534 at Tangmere, Sussex, from where they flew Havoc night fighters (converted Douglas Bostons), each equipped with a Turbinlite searchlight in the nose. The notion was that the Havocs would use their radar to search out enemy aircraft, which would then be picked out with the searchlight and shot down by an accompanying Hurricane. In practice, the scheme was none too successful, but Allen regarded the 15 months that he and White spent in Havocs as invaluable training in the art of night fighting. Allen along with Harry White spent a few months ferrying Beaufighters to the Middle East before Mike Allen and Harry White moved to No.141 Squadron having won two Bars to his DFC 1944. Sadlly around this time his parents were killed when a V2 rocket destroyed their house in July 1944. In January 1945 Allen and White had a close shave while taking off on their 91st operational sortie on a bleak evening in January 1945. The engine of their Mosquito failed as the aircraft left the ground, and the fighter nose-dived into a field. White and Alien found themselves in a heap in the cabin, with Allens foot jammed in the fuselage, White pinned underneath him, and the aircraft on fire, Fortunately, a farmer and two labourers who had seen the crash managed to pull them to safety just as the Mosquito went up in flames. Over the course of their partnerhsip they successfully destroyed at least 12 enemy aircraft. Flt Lt Mike Allen left the Royal Air Force in 1946, and began his civilian career working for Avro, the Manchester-based aircraft company, Pye Telecommunications, BTR and Rank Hovis McDougall. In 1966 he moved to South Africa, where he became chairman of the Pretoria branch of the South African Air Force Association. He returned to Britain in 1982 and worked for the Officers Association. In 1999 Mike Allen published the book Pursuit through Darkened Skies. Flight Lieutenant Mike Allen sadly died at the age of 78 on the 6th of June 2001. Mike Allen had won three DFCs as a navigator and radar operator in night fighters.

Beaufighter
Manufacturer : Bristol
Built : 5564

Beaufighter
BRISTOL BEAUFIGHTER The Bristol Beaufighter was a Torpedo Bomber and had a crew of two. with a maximum speed of 330mph and a ceiling of 29,000 feet. maximum normal range of 1500 miles but could be extended to 1750 miles. The Bristol Beaufighter carried four 20mm cannon in the belly of the aircraft and upto six .303in browning machine guns in the wings. it could also carry eight 3 -inch rockets, 1605 lb torpedo or a bomb load of 1,000 lb. The Bristol Beaufighter first flew in July 1939 and with some modifications entered service with the Royal Air Force in July 1940. In the winter of 1940 - 1941 the Beaufighter was used as a night fighter. and in March 1941 the aircraft was used at Coastal Command as a long range strike aircraft. and in 1941, the Beaufighter arrived in North Africa and used as a forward ground attack aircraft. The Bristol Beaufighter was used also in India, Burma and Australia. A total of 5,564 Beaufighters were built until production in Britain finished in 1945, but a further 364 were built in Australia for the Australian Air Force

Havoc
Manufacturer : Douglas

Havoc
A-20

Mosquito
Manufacturer : De Havilland
Built : 7781

Mosquito
Used as a night fighter, fighter bomber, bomber and Photo-reconnaissance, with a crew of two, Maximum speed was 425 mph, at 30,300 feet, 380mph at 17,000ft. and a ceiling of 36,000feet, maximum range 3,500 miles. the Mosquito was armed with four 20mm Hospano cannon in belly and four .303 inch browning machine guns in nose. Coastal strike aircraft had eight 3-inch Rockets under the wings, and one 57mm shell gun in belly. The Mossie at it was known made its first flight on 25th November 1940, and the mosquito made its first operational flight for the Royal Air Force as a reconnaissance unit based at Benson. In early 1942, a modified version (mark II) operated as a night fighter with 157 and 23 squadron's. In April 1943 the first De Haviland Mosquito saw service in the Far east and in 1944 The Mosquito was used at Coastal Command in its strike wings. Bomber Commands offensive against Germany saw many Mosquitos, used as photo Reconnaissance aircraft, Fighter Escorts, and Path Finders. The Mosquito stayed in service with the Royal Air Force until 1955. and a total of 7781 mosquito's were built.

Flt Lt Mike Allen DFC
Squadron details

No.141 Sqn RAF
Country : UK
Disbanded 31st March 1964
Known Codes : , TW,

No.141 Sqn RAF

Caedimus noctu - We slay by night

No. 141 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed on 1 January 1918 at Rochford, for home defence in the London Area. The Squadron moved to RAF Biggin Hill in February and giving up its mixed collection of types in favour of Bristol F.2 Fighters during March. In March 1919, it moved to Ireland, and was disbanded the following year, on 1 February 1920. On 4 October 1939, No 141 reformed at Turnhouse and by the end of the month had received some Gladiators followed shortly afterwards by Blenheims and these two types formed the training equipment of the until the arrival of Defiants in April 1940. Becoming operational on this type on 3 June 1940, the first operational patrol was flown by No 141 on 29 June and in July it moved to West Malling. The maintenance flight was based at Biggin Hill while the Defiants used Hawkinge as an advanced airfield and it was from the latter that the Squadron had its first and last daylight encounter with the enemy. Six out of nine aircraft were lost over the Channel to Me 109s and the squadron was withdrawn to Prestwick two days later as the ineffectiveness of the Defiant against single-seat fighters became evident. In September, a detachment was sent back to southern England but this time for night patrols and the whole squadron moved there in October. In April 1941, No. 141 returned to Scotland where it converted to Beaufighters for the defence of central Scotland and north-east England. In June 1942 it moved to Tangmere for local defence and in February 1943 to south-west England where it began flying intruder missions over north-west France. At the end of April 1943, it was transferred to Wittering and began flying intruder sorties over German airfields in support of Bomber Command in June. Mosquitoes began to replace the Beaufighters in October and in December the Squadron joined No. 100 Group, sending aircraft with Bomber Command's main force to attack enemy night-fighters and their bases. This type of operation continued until the German surrender and on 7 September 1945 the Squadron was disbanded. On 17 June 1946, No. 141 reformed at Wittering, again as a Mosquito night-fighter Squadron. In September 1951, it began to convert to Meteors and replaced these with Venoms in 1955. Javelins began to arrive in February 1957 and were flown until the Squadron was renumbered 41 Squadron on 1 February 1958. On 1 April 1959, No. 141 was reformed as a Bloodhound anti-aircraft missile unit at Dunholme Lodge, disbanding on 31 March 1964.

No.29 Sqn RAF
Country : UK
Known Codes : , RQ, YB, RO,

No.29 Sqn RAF

Impiger et acer - Energetic and keen

No 29 Squadron was formed at Gosport on 7 November 1915 from a nucleus supplied by No 23 Squadron, and after training moved to France in March 1916 as the third squadron to be fully equipped with fighters. Its DH2s were engaged in escort duties to protect the slow and vulnerable reconnaissance aircraft over the Western Front ,By late 1916 the DH.2 was outclassed by new German fighters, but No. 29 kept its pushers until March 1917, when it was re-equipped with Nieuport 17s. These were replaced with later Nieuport types, such as the Nieuport 24bis, as these became available. Due to a shortage of the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a the squadron retained its Nieuports until April 1918, being replaced by SE5As, which were used for the rest of the war on fighter and ground -attack missions. After a short period in Germany, the squadron Squadron was reduced to a cadre and in August 1919 returned to Spittlegate in the UK, in August 1919 where it was disbanded on 31 December 1919. The squadron was reformed on 1 April 1923, initially equipped with Sopwith Snipes. These were replaced by Gloster Grebes in January 1925, In turn, these were replaced by the Armstrong Whitworth Siskin IIIA in March 1928 and Bristol Bulldogs in June 1932. In March 1935, the squadron received two-seater Hawker Demons, which it operated until 1938. This included service in Egypt from October 1935 to 1936, during the Abyssinian crisis. The squadron also operated a few old Fairey Gordons for night patrols in Egypt. No 29 began the Second World War with its Blenheims, which at the period operated as day fighters – especially on convoy protection patrols. From June 1940 it became a night fighter squadron, receiving some of the first Beaufighters in November, though it was February 1941 before the squadron was fully equipped with the new fighter. Various marks of the de Havilland Mosquito were flown by the squadron from May 1943 culminating in the Mosquito NF30. From the middle of 1944 most of the squadron’s missions took it over the continent. The Mosquitoes continued to serve until replaced by Meteors in August 1951 at Tangmere. In January 1957 the squadron Squadron moved north, first to Northumberland and then in July 1958 to Scotland, conversion to Javelins taking having taken place in November 1957. In February 1963, No 29 was moved to Cyprus and in December 1965 went detached to Zambia for nine months on detachmentduring the Rhodesian crisis. In May 1967 the squadron Squadron returned to the UK to become are-equip with Lightnings squadron, disbanding on 31 December 1974. No 29 reformed at Coningsby as a Phantom squadron on 1 January 1975. A detachment was provided for the defence of the Falklands as soon as the airfield at Stanley was capable of operating Phantoms at the endin August of 1982. This became No 23 Squadron in March 1983 The Squadron swapped its Phantoms for Tornado F3 fighters in 1987 remaining at Coningsby until disbanded in October 1998. Five years later, the squadron was reformed, this time as the Typhoon operational conversion unit (OCU) based at BAE Systems' Warton airfield. In April 1987, No 29 Squadron became the first operational squadron to be equipped with the Tornado F3, deploying to Saudi Arabia after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 and flying throughout Operation DESERT STORM in the air-defence role. The Squadron was again disbanded in October 1998.

No.534 Sqn RAF
Country : UK
Disbanded 25th January 1943

No.534 Sqn RAF

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Mike Allen signing art prints of - Returning from Caen - by Graeme Lothian.

Flt Lt Mike Allen DFC - Signed Aviation Art