How Battle of Britain hero sent postcard from Nazi PoW camp to tell wife he was alive after his commander said he was shot down and died
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| Bob Allen (pictured third from right on the middle row) is seen here in 1944 with fellow pilots from 226 Squadron. On July 25 that year, 1944, Gp Capt Allen was shot down over enemy lines near Thury-Harcourt in Normandy. He baled out his aircraft and landed barefoot in a cornfield in an area swarming with enemy soldiers |
The story of how a Battle of Britain hero sent a postcard from a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp to tell his wife he was alive after his commander said he was dead has been revealed in new book.
Group Captain Bob Allen was shot down over northern France in July 1944 and captured at gunpoint by the Germans.
But his commanding officer wrote in the decorated airman's RAF logbook 'killed whilst on operations' and a letter of condolence was even sent to his wife Alice.
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| Gp Capt Allen (standing up centre) is seen here talking to workers on a factory visit in 1943. It was the year before he would be shot down and sent to 'Great Escape' camp Stalag Luft III - with his wife incorrectly informed that he was dead |
In fact Gp Capt Allen was taken to 'Great Escape' camp Stalag Luft III but it wasn't until three months later he was able to send a postcard to his wife with the words 'fit and well darling.'
He refused to talk about his war-time experiences for decades afterwards.
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| Within six months of joining the Royal Air Force, Gp Capt Allen was part of No 1 Squadron flying Hurricanes in dogfights with the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain. He then spent two years in west Africa (pictured far left in West Africa, 1941) fighting Germany's Vichy French allies and earned a Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts flying dangerous unarmed photo-reconnaissance missions to protect southern Atlantic shipping lines |
He wrote down his memoirs in the third person as a way of distancing himself from the horrors he encountered. He also changed the names and locations of battles for the same reason.
Following his death 11 years ago, his daughter Suzanne Campbell-Jones set about working on the memoirs and its moving contents have now been published for the first time in a new book, No Ordinary Pilot.
Mrs Campbell-Jones, 76, said: 'My father presented us with a copy of his memoir but he would not talk about it.
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| Gp Capt Allen (pictured in 1940 when he signed up to the RAF), from Medway, Kent, was 19 when he left his reserved occupation as a chemist to sign up for service in 1940 |
'When we read his memoir we realised that he had changed all the names and places and invented new ones for them.
'He also changed his own name and wrote the whole account in the third person, so maybe it had the effect of distancing himself from the action.
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| When Gp Capt Allen was shot down over Northern France in July 1944 his commanding officer wrote in the decorated airman's RAF logbook 'killed whilst on operations' and a letter of condolence was even sent to his wife Alice |
'My father was not someone renowned for daring do, he was a regular guy who during war time was pitched into some rather extraordinary experiences.
'I hope his great grandchildren will be able to read his story and understand what he went through.'
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| Gp Capt Allen refused to talk about his war-time experiences for decades afterwards. He is pictured left at the end of WWII, 1945 |
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| Gp Capt Allen (top left) was one of the first over the Normandy beaches on D-Day. He is seen here with other members of 266 Squadron in Normandy in 1944. They are drinking from a 'water-cow' which had taps at its base |
Within six months of joining up he was part of No 1 Squadron flying Hurricanes in dogfights with the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain.
He then spent two years in west Africa fighting Germany's Vichy French allies and earned a Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts flying dangerous unarmed photo-reconnaissance missions to protect southern Atlantic shipping lines.
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| Gp Capt Allen is seen her aged 18. A year later he signed up for service and was soon part of No 1 Squadron flying Hurricanes in dogfights with the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain. After the war was over he refused to talk about his war-time experiences for decades |
Returning home at Christmas 1942, he retrained as a fighter-bomber pilot flying Typhoons and was one of the first over the Normandy beaches on D-Day.
But on July 25, 1944, Gp Capt Allen was shot down over enemy lines near Thury-Harcourt in Normandy.
He baled out his aircraft and landed barefoot in a cornfield in an area swarming with enemy soldiers.
He wrote of the dramatic episode in the third person: 'At 5,000ft he was about to start firing his cannon before releasing his rockets when there was a loud thump from the tail.
'His plane began to yaw out of control. He had been hit.
'He struggled to pull his aircraft up but it continued to plunge.
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| Gp Capt Allen spent two years in west Africa during the years 1940 and 1942 fighting Germany's Vichy French allies and earned a Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts. Pictured here is an aerial photograph of the Dakar in Senegal, taken on an aerial reconnaisance mission in 1941 |
'A slipstream rushed through the cockpit from side to side, pinning him hard back against the seat, so he could hardly reach the control column.
'All hope of saving the aircraft was lost...he released the pin of his safety harness so he could get could get free of the aircraft.
'The buffeting slipstream sucked him out. His aircraft went on crashing downwards. He felt for the ripcord on his parachute. Fast approaching the fields of enemy-held Normandy, Bob looked for somewhere to hide.
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| Gp Capt Allen is pictured right after the war in 1945 with daughter Suzanne. He wrote down his memoirs in the third person as a way of distancing himself from the horrors he encountered. He also changed the names and locations of battles for the same reason |
'Landing with some force in a cornfield that had just been cut, the breath knocked out of him.
'His flying boots and socks had been sucked away as he left the aircraft.
'And now there was the sound of gunfire. Running across the field came a number of German soldiers firing at him.
'He reluctantly decided he would have to surrender.'
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| Following Gp Capt Allen's death 11 years ago, his daughter Suzanne Campbell-Jones (pictured) set about working on the memoirs and its moving contents have now been published for the first time in a new book, No Ordinary Pilot |
Another moving passage describes the tender moment Gp Capt Allen telephoned his wife at the end of the war to let her know he would soon be home soon.
It reads: 'Alice gave her name. The man on the other end of the line said 'you've been a long time coming'.
'She asked who was speaking.
'He said 'who do you think it is, Alice. Don't you recognise my voice?'
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| Mrs Campbell-Jones (pictured), 76, said of the new book: 'My father presented us with a copy of his memoir but he would not talk about it. When we read his memoir we realised that he had changed all the names and places and invented new ones for them. I hope his great grandchildren will be able to read his story and understand what he went through' |
'At that point Alice realised it really was her husband.
'After months of separation they would be together again.
'She hugged her child and told her Daddy would be home in the afternoon.'
Gp Capt Allen carried on serving in the RAF after the war then worked for the Ministry of Agriculture.
He died aged 88 in 2008.
His daughter, a documentary maker from Bath, said her father would not talk about the war even after writing his memoirs.
She added: 'Like so many people from his generation he did not see himself as a hero but someone doing his duty.'
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| Mrs Campbell-Jones said of the new book (pictured): 'When we read his memoir we realised that he had changed all the names and places and invented new ones for them. I hope his great grandchildren will be able to read his story and understand what he went through' |
No Ordinary Pilot, One Man's Extraordinary Exploits in World War II, by Suzanne Campbell-Jones, is published by Osprey and costs £18.99.
