Thomas Henry Allen was born in Chipperfield, Hertfordshire in September 1889 and was baptised in the local parish church, along with his older twin brother William, five years later on the 4th November 1894. He was the third of four boys born to James Allen and Eliza (Elizabeth) Dancer and his other siblings were; Emily, George, William and the youngest child Arthur. His father James was an agricultural labourer, an occupation which meant the family frequently moved as James took up employment on farms throughout the district. By 1901 when Thomas was twelve-years-old, the family had moved to Redbourn, just outside Hemel Hempstead, and lived at Wood End Cottages.

It is not known what Thomas did after leaving school in 1902 but it is possible that he remained in Redbourn and like his father and older brothers, found farm work locally. It was during this time that he got to know the Bone family who also lived in the village and his eyes and eventually his heart settled on Emily the youngest daughter in the family. Thomas and Emily Elizabeth Bone married in Hemel Hempstead in 1910 and shortly afterwards the young couple set up home at 96 London Road, Boxmoor. Just a year later in September 1911, Thomas and Emily had their first daughter whom they named Emily Edith Ellen. A second girl, Florence May, made an appearance in February 1913 and the Allen family was complete.

Thomas volunteered for service on the 23rd August 1915 when he enlisted at Hertford with the Hertfordshire Regiment and was immediately posted for basic training. For the next twelve months he trained to be a soldier and was then engaged in home defence duties. On the 3rd November 1916, he was mobilised and a day later embarked at Folkestone and sailed for France, and within the month he had joined his unit, 1st Battalion Hertfordshire Regiment near Neuve Chappelle.

Thomas had a miserable war according to his service records, and like many of his comrades suffered privations and illness which led to his admission to hospital on four separate occasions during 1917. In mid-January he reported sick and was diagnosed with Myalgia, acute muscle pain, which may have been due to the stresses and strains of soldiering. Needless to say it was incapacitating and he did not re-join his unit until early February. A month later he was back in hospital, this time afflicted by frostbite which was a sadly common complaint for men in the trenches. He took a full month to recover before going back into the field. In early September a slight injury meant another few days in hospital, and finally in October, he succumbed to the most common medical complaint of the Great War, tooth decay. Ninety-eight percent of all soldiers who fought in the First World War had to undergo dental treatment for tooth decay at some point during their service. This could be severe and mean hospitalisation for prolonged periods, but this problem resulted in the development of modern dentistry treatment and techniques, primarily driven by the New Zealand Army.

Thomas spend five days under treatment before once again re-joining his Battalion. It must have been a great relief to him, that at the end of November 1917, he was granted two weeks home leave and returned to his family and friends in Hemel Hempstead. This would prove to be the last time that Thomas would see home and on his return to the frontline, he was assigned to a ‘Stokes Mortar’ unit attached to the 116th Light Mortar Battery in the Hertfordshire Regiment. He served with this unit throughout the first few months of 1918, fighting in the Battle of the Lys in April and seeing continuous action in the trenches, albeit a relatively quiet period according to the Battalion War Diaries. During the month of June, the 1st Hertfordshires suffered a more torrid time and the number of casualties increased as the month progressed.

It is not clear exactly when Thomas was wounded, but he succumbed to his injuries and died on Tuesday, 16th June 1918.

Back home, his widow Emily received a pension for herself and their two daughters of twenty-five shillings and six pence, along with a gratuity payment of £7.0.0. Emily married again in 1921, three years after Thomas’ death, to Alfred Bass from Hemel Hempstead and with whom she had three more daughters. Fred Bone, Emily’s older brother was also killed in the war in July 1917, eleven months before Thomas fell. Fred’s biography also appears on this site.

Thomas is Remembered with Honour in Etretat Churchyard Extension, Seine-Maritime, France, where he is interred in Grave II. E. 6.

He was 29 years old when he died.

Thomas was eligible for the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.