Allen, Truman

William “Truman” Bonnar Allen was born in Peel County, Ontario, on 9 February 1885. His father, William John Allen, was a carpenter. The family included his mother, Elizabeth Howatt, three older sisters, and a younger brother and sister.

At the time of his initial enlistment in Toronto on 5 January 1915, Allen was married to Annie Allen and had one daughter, about 7 years old, and was living at 61 Withrow Avenue. He listed his employment at the time as chauffeur, which indicates he possessed a good knowledge of the maintenance and repair of vehicles.

It is not surprising then that he was assigned to the Canadian Army Service Corps and shipped out to the United Kingdom on 15 May 1915. His training time there was marked by a number of visits to the Tent Hospital on St Martin’s Plain for various complaints. However, on 15 September 1915 he was shipped out to the continent (which qualified him for the 1914 – 1915 Star) where he joined the #2 Divisional Ammunition Sub Park. Despite its name, the unit performed a variety of logistics duties including ferrying supplies, including road building materials, ammunition and canteen stores, via “lorry” from the rail head to various Canadian units operating in the Ypres area. In the fall of that year Allen once again complained of a variety of ailments which resulted in visits from the local casualty clearing station to rear area hospitals at Étaples and Havre. By January 1916 he re-joined his unit which maintained a busy schedule of ferrying supplies to Canadian units in Flanders. In August he was transferred to the 3rd Canadian Division Supply Column but by the end of the month he is listed as being with the Convalescent Hospital in Boulogne and shortly thereafter transferred to Shorncliffe in the United Kingdom for discharge. He shipped out to Canada the end of September and was discharged for medical reasons in Toronto on 20 October 1916.

Civilian life did not seem to suit Truman Allen and he re-applied to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), re-enlisting on 1 November 1917, and posted to the NCO’s Training Depot in Toronto. As a result of his previous service he was rapidly promoted to Sergeant. However, army life still did not fit and he was discharged once again 12 December of that year on the basis of a pre-existing medical condition.

His discharge papers noted that he was an excellent mechanic with 14 years of experience and, in 1921, he was living on Hamilton Street, Toronto, working as a mechanic. His medal set includes the War Medal from the Second World War and the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal (without bar) suggesting that he volunteered for service in that war and served in Canada.