Private Gordon B. Allen

Gordon B. Allen, born in February 1925 in Port Elgin, New Brunswick, enrolled for wartime military service in March 1941 at the age of sixteen years and one month. He served for four and one-half years until November 1945.

On enrolment, he was part of the 2nd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment,11th Battery, 2nd Army Group, RCA. He finished his service as part of the Core and Supply Troop (Blue Patch), 4th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division.

In September 1941, Gordon boarded the Louis Pasteur at Pier 21 bound for Scotland. After crossing the Atlantic Ocean, they sailed up the River Clyde to Greenock where they debarked. They later traveled by train to south England where they were housed in old World War I military barracks at Aldershot.

Gordon trained as a dispatch rider and map reader. His dispatch duties included decoding delivery co-ordinates in order to complete required deliveries. As dispatcher, he was also responsible for coordinating and mapping convoy movements, alternately leading convoys off toward the co-ordinates he had established and then zooming between the lines of vehicles to round up the rear and make sure nothing was left behind. Convoy and unit movements could be made in either advance or retreat mode and sometimes more than one had to be managed simultaneously. Lengths of convoys and distances covered could vary significantly. The dispatcher's expertise was relied on by commanders to ensure that troops were where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there.

On June 10, 1944 as part of the Juno Beach landing, Gordon landed at Bernieres-sur-Mer, France. He drove the cook truck from the landing bridge with his dispatcher's Harley Davidson motorcycle stored in the back. He served and saw action in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. It was in Germany, on May 8, 1945, that his unit was told by an officer that the war had ended. By July 1945, Gordon had arrived home in Canada at Pier 21 on the Ile de France. His discharge from army service was in November 1945.

For his wartime service, Private Gordon B. Allen was awarded these medals:

• The 1939-45 Star
• The France and Germany Star
• The Defence Medal
• The Canadian Voluntary Service Medal and Clasp
• The War Medal - 1939-45

As of March 2006, Gordon and his wife of almost 55 years reside in Moncton, New Brunswick. They are parents of six and grandparents of eight.