MY WARTIME EXPERIENCES BY REG ALLEN

[Bushman]

MY WARTIME EXPERIENCES BY REG ALLEN 1946

Reg Allen aged 18

After making a rather memorable debut in professional football at the age of eighteen. I was forward to a long and successful career in this first love of mine. Fate deemed otherwise, because after playing in only three matches of season 1939, war broke out and I at once decided to volunteer for the Army.
After making three attempts to enlist I found myself landed in a Territorial Battalion of the 60th Rifles. During my battle training I was selected for the International games at Paris, Rheims, and Lille. We came through these games with full honours and in the opinion of Stan Cullis, our skipper, the French fielded one of the strongest sides England has played against in International Games.
This football prowess of the British received very favourable comments in the French Press as well as our own daily papers.

On returning to England I was again selected for the Army who were due to play who were due to play a strong F.A. eleven at Liverpool, but had the misfortune to break my ankle during organised games of my unit.
Then came the debacle and our battalion was posted to first-line of defence at Dover . Here we had many exciting experiences with German aircraft which rather whetted my appetite for further action.
About this time the Commandos were being formed as an advanced striking force against German occupied Europe. This was my idea of soldiering; so I volunteered and was sent to the wilds of Scotland for intensive training.
I was more or less out of touch by this time with current sports news, and was surprised when, one day, I was asked whether I had read the morning's paper, as apparently I had been picked to play in the Army International at Ibrox Park. I only had two days before the game and in any case had received no communications from the necessary authorities, and to my bitter disappointment had to abandon all hope playing, and George Tweedy, the Grimsby and England goalie, was picked in my place.

The vigorous Commando training allowed no time for sport, especially as I and ten others were picked to form the nucleus of a special branch of the Commandos, which later beame known as the Special Boat Service.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Boat_Service

This service did sterling work in Burma and the Mediterranean where we joined for service with the 1st Submarine Flotilla at Alexandria. Our sphere of activities at the time centered around the Libyan and Tripolitanian coasts as well as the Aegean Seas.

After only six operations I had the misfortune to be taken Prisoner-of-War, whilst in company with a Marine and attempting to sink a ship in Benghazi Harbour. This was in August, 1941, and I was taken to a transit camp at Capua after being on the loose for four-and-half days. This camp was about twenty miles from Naples and after being there for three months was moved to a P.O.W. camp near Genoa, and during this time of imprisonment I assisted in the escape of one British and one South African soldier. For this, I duly sentenced to ten days hard which included a heavy beating up, and this was followed by by fifteen days light punishment. I often wonder how I survived the twenty-five months at this camp when you consider our main daily diet was five ounces of bread and one plate of soup which was nothing more or less than cabbage water.
On the retreat of the Italian army I was moved by prison train to a German camp, the location which was Munich, and among the many sportsman I can recall was. Bill Bowes, the England and Yorkshire bowler, and Freddy Brown the England and Surrey all-rounder.
My next move was to Stalag 344, but after a while was sent to a sawmill working part, but after being concerned in a shooting ordeal in which a British sailor was killed I was removed back to 344. This camp was in Upper Silesia and when the Russian advance came I was again moved, and this time time to 17b which was 80 kilometres from Vienna. After being three days on the loose in Vienna I was picked up by a British liaison Officer and was flown to England in a Fortress. This was in May, 1945, which meant I had spent nearly four years as a P.O.W.
There are many, many things I could write about my experiences but space does not permit.

Among the various football personalities I can remember sharing my unforgettable experiences were Billy Stephens recently transferred from Leeds United to Swindon, Harry Roberts of Chesterfield F.C., Paddy Radcliffe, who was gone from Notts County to Wolves, Blakeman, recently signed on by Brentford, as well as well-known sporting figures as Gordon Rolls, racehorse owner and Turf speculator, V. Mitchell, winner of 1939 Lincolnshire Handicap, on Squadron Castle, C. Hook, steeplechase jockey, Tommy Barnham, famous Fulham Boxer, and Leslie Braybrooke of Notting Hill who by the way eluded the Germans for two-and-half years.

Owing to under nourishment I was not able to touch a ball for four years , owing to boils and other complaints. The only thing we had to look forward to was our Red Cross parcels which came to us once a week but after a while only came about every fortnight or three weeks.
You can guess how glad I am to be back after this long lay-off and awful experiences, and am able to take up the game where I left off.

Arthur Reginald Allen (born 3 May 1919 in Marylebone, London, died 3 April 1976) was a goalkeeper with Queens Park Rangers and Manchester United.

Reg made his QPR league debut against Newport County in December 1938 and was known as one of the best goalkeepers of his era. He initially played for the Corona Football Club in the Hanwell and District League where a QPR supporter spotted him and recommended him to the club. He was given a trial with the Reserve team at Clacton and the side lost 2-1. Reg felt he had played poorly. The club felt he had promise but it was several months before he could be persuaded to play again. His next match was again with the reserves at West Ham. West Ham won 7-1. Despite this it was still felt that he had done well and in 1938 he signed professional terms. Reg went on to make 251 appearances for QPR. He was a member of the 1948 QPR team that won the Division Three (South) championship.

He was transferred to Manchester United on 6 June 1950 for £11,000, a then world-record fee for a goalkeeper Allen played his last game for Manchester United on 4 October 1952, when Crompton managed to reclaim the number 1 jersey, along with promising, young 'keeper Ray Wood.
Allen retired from football within five years.

He died on 3 April 1976, in Ealing one month before what would have been his 57th birthday.