KILLED IN ACTION

Timaru Herald, Volume CL, Issue 22140, 8 December 1941, Page 4

KILLED IN ACTION

Member For Hauraki

Prime Minister Expresses Regret (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Dec. 6. The Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser) announced this morning that he has received advice from the Middle East that LieutenantColonel John M. Allen, M.P. for Hauraki, had been killed in action. “This distressing news,” said Mr Fraser, "will be received with the deepest sorrow by every member of Parliament and by the people of New Zealand, and the widest and most sincere sympthy will be extended to his wife and family. Lieutenant-Colonel Allen has been in Parliament only a short time (he was elected at the 1938 election), but this period was long enough for all members to recognise his ability and to get to know and like him. I saw and consulted with him in Egypt

and heard, both from his senior officers and from his men, how greatly he was esteemed. As a soldier he indeed displayed outstanding qualities and from my own discussions with him I found he had a very wide grasp of military affairs. His death is a severe loss to the Army, to the Parliament and to the country.”

Lieutenant-Colonel John Manchester Allen was born in England in 1901 and was educated at King's College, Auckland, Pembroke College, Cambridge, gaining his M.A. and Ll.B. degrees. He had been farming at Morrinsville since 1926 and was president of the Farmers' Union there in 1926-27. He was de-puty-Master of the Waikato Hunt, a director of the Tatua Dairy Co., and a member Of the Thames Valley Power Board from 1929. He was elected to Parliament for Hauraki in 1938. He was appointed to the Hauraki Regiment in 1924 as Second-Lieutenant and went overseas with the forces in the present war with the rank of Major.

TRIBUTE BY PARTY LEADER MILITARY AND .PUBLIC SERVICE (P.A.) CHRISTCHURCH, Dec. 6. Deep regret at the death of Lieut.Colonel Allen was expressed to-day by the Leader of the Opposition (Mr S. G. Holland). “Colonel Allen was a staunch colleague and faithful friend and his passing has cut short a life of public service that showed the greatest promise,” said Mr Holland. “He was highly respected by every member of the House, regardless of political affiliations, and whenever he spoke he was Tstened to with the greatest attention. Colonel Allen comes from a family with the most distinguished record of military and public service. He won high praise for his outstanding leadership In the fighting in Crete, where he was in the thickest of it. Lieutenant-Colonel Allen will be greatly missed from the Parliamentary ranks. New Zealand has lost a most distinguished son, a gallant soldier and staunch friend and colleague, and a citizen of the very best type. Lieut.-Colonel Allen was a great lover of animals, and was never happier than when exhibiting his own stock in the show-ring or riding his horses oyer jumps, but perhaps his greatest quality was that he was a very devoted family man, and the heartfelt sympathy of all will go to his sorrowing widow and three little children. Lieut.-Colonel Allen’s passing leaves a great gap in our ranks and in the public life of this land.”