Name
Thomas Henry Allen
1889
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
16/06/1918
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
266850
Hertfordshire Regiment
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
ETRETAT CHURCHYARD EXTENSION
II. E. 6.
France
Headstone Inscription
None
UK & Other Memorials
Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial, Regimental Memorial, All Saints Church, Hertford, We are not aware of any Felden memorial
Pre War
Thomas Henry Allen was born in late 1889 in Felden/Bovingdon, Herts, the son of James and Eliza Allen and twin to William Allen. Thomas and William were baptised at Chipperfield, Herts on 4 November 1894.
On the 1891 Census the family were living at Chipperfield Road, Bovingdon, where his father was an Agricultural Labourer. By 1901 they were living at Wood End Cottages, Redbourne, Herts where his father was an Agricultural Labourer.
He married Emily Elizabeth Bone in Hemel Hempstead in 1910 and they had two children, Emily Edith Ellen, born 4 September 1911 and Florence May born 16 February 1913. On enlistment they lived at 96 London Road, Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead.
His parents were living at The Kennels, Shendish, Hemel Hempstead in 1911.
His widow later lived at 16 Weymouth Street, Apsley End, Hemel Hempstead.
Wartime Service
He initially enlisted with the Hertfordshire Regiment (reg. no. 5499), and served from 23 August 1915, although was not posted to the Western Front until 4 November 1916 when he left Folkestone bound for Boulogne. He arrived at Etaples on 6 November 1916 and joined the Battalion on 23 November 1916.
He suffered from myalgia in January 1917 and frostbite in March when he was sent to hospital in Boulogne and later Calais to recover, rejoining the battalion in the field in early April. He suffered another injury at the beginning of September and did not return to the front until late September. By October he was in hospital again for five days because of tooth decay. At the end of November 1917 he was granted two weeks home leave and returned to Hemel Hempstead.
On his return to the Front he was assigned to a Stokes Mortar unit attached to the 116th Light Mortar Battery in the Hertfordshire Regiment. He then fought in the Battle of the Lys in April 1918.
He was wounded in action and died on 16 June 1918 at the 1st General Hospital, Etretat, France and is buried at Etretat Churchyard Extension, France.
Additional Information
His widow Emily received a war gratuity of £13 and pay owing of £16 19s 8d. She also received a pension of £1 5s 6d a week. Emily remarried in 1921 to Albert Bass and had three more daughters. Her brother Fred Bone, Bedfordshire Regiment, was also killed in action and died on 26 July 1917.
Acknowledgments
Jonty Wild, Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, www.dacorumheritage.org.uk, www.hemelatwar.org.,www.hemelheroes.com.
