before he was called up to the regular army on 24 August 1939. War service Allen's regiment was part of the Royal Artillery; he quickly became involved with Anti-Aircraft Command and began to associate with Royal Air Force (RAF) officers. In 1940, he was appointed as an Anti-Aircraft (AA) liaison officer to RAF Hawkinge, part of an initiative to share intelligence on German AA operations with bomber groups; these posts were controlled by a branch of Military Intelligence, MI14E. Later that year, Allen's brother Geoffrey was killed fighting in France. In June 1940, Allen was appointed as a flak liaison officer to Five Group, an RAF Bomber Command group responsible for distributing intelligence on German air defences collated by MI14 to bomber stations. Through this position, Allen became friends with Arthur "Bomber" Harris, who commanded Five Group at the time. As part of his work there, Allen accompanied one bombing mission to the Ruhr, to gain first hand experience of AA defences. In December, Allen was appointed to lead the MI14E section which collated AA intelligence; aside from appointing flak liaison officers, Allen received sensitive intelligence data from a variety of sources on German air defences. He remained in this position for the rest of the war, being promoted to lieutenant colonel when MI14E became MI15. Throughout the war, he also found time to play regular charity cricket matches. Allen left the army in July 1945. Last years as a cricketer After the war, Allen dedicated most of his time to stockbroking and was made a partner by David Bevan and Co. He had little time for cricket, although he appeared twice for Middlesex in 1946. The following season, he played once for Middlesex, and captained their second team. He also played twice for the Free Foresters, a club of wandering amateurs, in first-class games. Late in the 1947 season, Allen was asked to captain and manage an MCC team which was to tour the West Indies that winter. The young and experimental team suffered badly with injuries; Allen missed several matches himself through strains. In first-class games on the tour he scored 262 runs and took six wickets, but writing in Wisden, Norman Preston judged: "Allen was too old." Allen also clashed with several members of his team; he did not get along with Ken Cranston, his vice-captain, nor Joe Hardstaff, his senior professional. When Allen tried to impose