Henry Edward Allman                       Updated: 29 MAR 2021

Airman: a116001.htm Surname: Allman Init: H E Rank: F/O Service: RAF Sqdn: 90

P_link: p362.htm Plane: LAN LM184 Operation: Bomb G Crash_site: At Aalestrup

Crash_d: d300844 Buried_d: b010944 C_link: c116.htm At_Next: Aalestrup

“Natten til den 30. August 1944 overfløj næsten 600 britiske bombefly Danmark under bombe-
togter til henholdsvis Königsberg og Stettin
(Kaliningrad og Szczecin). Under indflyvningen
over Nordjylland, Kattegat og Sverige blev formationerne til Stettin voldsomt angrebet af tyske natjagere...
Ved midnatstid styrtede et brændende Lancaster fly ned lige syd for Aalestrup. Det eksploderede
i nedslaget. Hele besætningen blev dræbt.

Den 31. august ved aftenstide var der en højtidelighed på nedstyrtningsstedet, gårdejer Martin
Husums mark. En katolsk og en evangelisk feltpræst var til stede, og mens fru Husum lagde
blomster på kisterne, gjorde tyske soldater honnør. Dagen efter, den 1. september 1944, blev de
dræbte flyvere begravet af værnemagten uden gejstlig medvirken." (FAF)
Se historien i detaljer om denne besætning - en af mange! Uddrag::

Pilot Officer H.E. Allman, født den 12. januar 1911, var maskintegner, en dygtig pianist og kordirigent
ved Tattenhall Kirke. Allman meldte sig samme dag krigen brød ud som frivillig til RAF. Efter at være uddannet i Canada deltog han efter sin hjemkomst først i 1943 i mange bombetogter over Tyskland.
I juli 1944 fødte fru Allman en søn, han fik navnet David efter vennen David Sumsion.

Den 1. september 1944 modtog F/O Allmans forældre i Chester et telegram, hvori der stod
"30. august 1944 Beklager at måtte meddele Dem, at Deres søn F/O Henry Edward Alman savnes
som resultat af en luftoperation natten 29/30. Aug... Enhver yderligere oplysning vi måtte modtage vil straks blive kommunikeret til Dem..." Netop den 1. september var Allman og de 6 øvrige flyvere blevet nedgravet på Aalestrup kirkegård som ukendte.

Men gårdejer Martin Husum, på hvis mark flyet var faldet, fandt senere et identifikationsmærke, som
han gav videre til lederen af modstandsbevægelsen i Aalestrup, smed Arne Dantoft. Denne sendte
det til Toldstrup, der telegrafisk underrettede London om fundet. Det blev oplyst, at mærket havde
følgende inskription: "GB 153326 officer H.E. Allman CE-RAF" og at flyverens kammerater alle var begravet på Aalestrup kirkegård.

Den 6. april 1945 kom telegrafbudet igen til familien Allmans hjem i Chester. I telegrammet stod:
"Beklager dybt at måtte meddele Dem at ifølge oplysninger modtaget gennem en pålidelig kilde må Deres søn F/O Henry Edward Allman antages at have mistet
livet som resultat af luftoperationer 29-30/8 1944... Ministeriet udtrykker sin dybfølte sympati. Hans kone er blevet underrettet." (FAF)

Flying Officer (Air Bomber) Henry Edward Allman, 33 år, var søn af George E. og Mary Allman, Chester; gift med Gwynneth Vaughan Allman, UK. (Kilde: CWGC)
He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase  Panel 

I 1995 sendte Sv. Aa. Dantoft, søn af Arne Dantoft, en ring med initialerne HEA til Allmans enke. Michael, 11 år, havde fundet den på nedstyrtningsstedet.
Mrs Gwynneth Allman var meget taknemlig! Det var som en hilsen fra en anden verden - og hendes yngste barnebarn, hvis farfar bar ringen, hedder også Michael!
(Kilde: Randers Amtsavis 20. maj 1995)

LAN LM184 styrtede ned her omkring 150 m nord for Hvamvej 36, 9620 Aalestrup. (Kilde: Kaj Christensen, dengang 11 år. Han tog et par stykker af flyvraget, der
havde lavet et kæmpestort krater.) Det var få minutter før LAN PA163 i en ildsøjle styrtede ned i Lovns Bredning.

Se Lancaster fotos og Operation 30 AUGUST 1944 - ruter og tab. Historisk Samling og Arkiv Himmerland har mere om dette fly og dets besætning. 7 flyvere.

In the night before 30 August, 1944, nearly 600 bombers flew over Denmark on bombing raids to Königsberg and Stettin (Kaliningrad and Szczecin).
Flying over North Jutland, Kattegat and Sweden heading for the targets the formations for Stettin were heavily attacked by German night fighters. At least 10 British bombers were shot down over Denmark that night.
At midnight a burning Lancaster crashed just south of Aalestrup. It exploded on impact. All of the crew was killed.

On 31 August there was a ceremony in the evening at the crash site, farmer Martin Husum´s field. A Catholic and an Evangelical army chaplain were present, and
German soldiers saluted while Mrs Husum laid flowers on the coffin. Next day, on 1 September 1944 were the deceased airmen buried by the Wehrmacht without ecclesiastical  assistance." (FAF) See the story in details about this crew - one of many! Excerpts:

"Pilot Officer H.E. Allman, born on 12 January 1911, was an assistant to a technical engineer, a skilled piano player and director of the choir of Tattenhall Church.
The very day the war broke out Allman joined the RAF as a volunteer. After his training in Canada he in 1943 participated in many bombing raids over Germany.
In July Mrs Allman gave birth to a son, who was called David after his friend David Sumsion.

On 1 September, 1944 F/O Allman´s parents in Chester received a telegram saying: "30th August 1944 Deeply regret to inform you that your son F/O
Henry Edward Allman is missing as result of air operation on the night of 29/30 Aug ... Any further information received will be immediately communicated to you..."
The very same day Allman and the 6 other airmen had been dug down at Aalestrup Churchyard as unknown.

However, farmer Martin Husum, owner of the field with the crash site, later found an identification tag, which he passed on to the leader of the resistance movement in Aalestrup, blacksmith Arne Dantoft, who sent it to Toldstrup, who sent a wireless message to London about the find. It was said that the tag had this inscription,
"GB 153326 officer H.E. Allman CE-RAF" and that all of the airmen were buried at Aalestrup Churchyard.

On 6 April, 1945 the telegraph messenger again came to the home of the Allmans in Chester. The telegramme read,
"Deeply regret to advise you that according to information received through a reliable source your son F/O Henry Edward Allman is believed to have lost his life as
the result of air operations on 29/30/8 1944... The air council express their profound sympathy. His wife has been informed..." (FAF)

Flying Officer (Air Bomber) Henry Edward Allman, 33, was the son of George E. and Mary Allman, of Chester, and the husband of Gwynneth Vaughan Allman,
United Kingdom. (Source: CWGC). He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 2, Panel 122.

In 1995 Svend Aage Dantoft, son of Arne Dantoft, could pass a ring on with the initials HEA to Allman´s widow. Michael, 11, had found it at the crash site. Mrs
Gwynneth Allman was very grateful! It was like a greeting from another world - and her youngest grandchild, whose grandfather wore the ring, is also named Michael!


LAN LM184 crashed here about 150 m north of Hvamvej 36, 9620 Aalestrup. (Kilde: Kaj Christensen, then 11 years old. He took parts of the wreckage, which had
made an enormous crater.) It was a few minutes before LAN PA163 in a column of fire crashed in Lovns Bredning.

See No. 90 Squadron RAF - Wikipedia * Lancaster and photos * Operation 30 AUGUST 1944 - routes and losses.
Lancaster I LM184 WP-K took off from RAF Tuddenham at 21.07 hrs on 29 AUG 1944. (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this.)  p362MACR   7 airmen.