Robert Hall Allen (11 June 1886 – 20 September 1981) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer and an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Playing career

In 1914, Allen signed for West Ham United from amateur club Corinthian, after impressing against West Ham at Upton Park on 27 April 1914 in a charity match for West Ham Hospital. ''

The Westminster Gazette ''The Westminster Gazette'' was an influential Liberal newspaper based in London. It was known for publishing sketches and short stories, including early works by Raymond Chandler, Anthony Hope, D. H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, and Saki, an ...

'' described Allen's performance as "heavy and fast", exerting "wonderful control over the light, dry ball, dribbling in a style reminiscent of the old-time Corinthians" whilst "giving perfect passes". Despite being signed in time for the 1914–15 season, Allen didn't play for the club due to his military commitments in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Following the culmination of the war, Allen returned to West Ham. On 1 November 1919, Allen made his debut for the club in a 2–1 home loss against

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. Despite scoring West Ham's only goal after six minutes, Allen would not play for the club again, returning to play for Old Carthusians, with whom he began his career with.

Military career

During

, and after being educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

followed by receiving a commission as an officer in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

after graduating from the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

in 1905, he served with the Royal Artillery in

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

, where he was twice

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

and awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

(MC), and later in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. In 1916 he married the daughter of a general. He then attended the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which i ...

in 1920 and was made Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General at

Aldershot Command Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

from 1937≈1938 and then specialised in anti-aircraft defence. After being promoted to major-general in 1939, the year

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

began, he took command of the 5th Anti-Aircraft Division which he led until 1941 when he took command of the

8th Anti-Aircraft Division (United Kingdom) The 8th Anti-Aircraft Division (8th AA Division) was an air defence formation of the British Army during the early years of the Second World War. It defended South West England during The Blitz and the ''Luftwaffe'' 'hit and run' raids, but only h ...

. He was made a CB in 1942, the same he retired from the army. He spent his final years in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, and listed his recreation as solving simple chess problems.

References

Bibliography

External links

Generals of World War II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Robert 1886 births 1981 deaths Men's association football forwards English men's footballers Footballers from Kolkata People educated at Charterhouse School Old Carthusians F.C. players Corinthian F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players English Football League players British Army generals of World War II British Army personnel of World War I British Army major generals Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Royal Artillery officers Companions of the Order of the Bath Military personnel of British India