Name
Horace Frederick Allen
24 November 1893
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
07/03/1949
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
GREAT BERKHAMSTED (ST. PETER) CHURCH CEMETERY
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Garden of Remembrance War Memorial, Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted
Pre War
Horace Frederick Allen was born in Chapel Street, Berkhamsted, Herts on 24 November 1893, the son of William and Mary Allen, and was baptised on 28 March 1894 at St Peter's Church, Great Berkhamsted. He was one of seven children, but one died in infancy.
On the 1901 Census the family were living at 9 Chapel Street, Great Berkhamsted and his father was working as a boat builder. By 1911 they had moved to 27 Bridge Street, Berkhamsted and Horace was then working as a lady's coat presser.
He married Annie Mills in the Primitive Methodist Church, High Street, Berkhamsted on 10 August 1914 and they lived at 3 Back Lane (later renamed Church Lane). They had their first child on 17 May 1916 and were to have a further three children.
Wartime Service
Horace enlisted on 11 December 1915 and joined the Royal West Kent Regiment. He was placed on the Army reserves and was mobilised on 7 April 1916, serving with the 7th Battalion.
He was injured in early 1918 when, as he was climbing on to a lorry, a shell landed close by and shrapnel from the explosion entered his head. The injury caused him much pain and distress for the rest of his life as metal fragments remained embedded in his skull. He was discharged on 13 April 1918, having been deemed no longer physically fit for war service, and was given Silver Badge No. 402543 in 1920 to prove he was no longer able to serve.
He was also unable to work full time again, but took on small tasks working as a gardener and helping with the nets at Berkhamsted Town Football Club. He wore a leather patch in public to cover the shrapnel entry wound on his forehead and was periodically hospitalised for treatment.
Horace died in November 1929 (too late to receive an official war grave) and is buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted.
Additional Information
Although Horace received a pension when he was discharged, it stopped when he died and for a long time his widow Annie was denied a war widow's pension, but after many appeals and much campaigning, mainly by the Royal British Legion, she did received a small pension. Annie managed to find domestic work with local employers, including the Berkhamsted Boys Grammar School.
N.B. Garden of Remembrance War Memorial (Rectory Lane Cemetery) was erected in 2021, and the names include the names of the men who are buried in CWGC graves in the Rectory Lane cemetery, which the CWGC records as Great Berkhamsted (St. Peter) Church Cemetery. It also includes other me who served in WWI or WWII, but for various reasons did not qualify for a CWGC headstone. The HAWP is seeking clarification, but currently we believe these men served and survived the war and so are commemorated for their service. If our understanding changes we will update the biography and this note.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, www.rectorylanecemetery.org.uk/biographies
