475th's Aces
FIRST LIEUTENANT DAVID W ALLEN, USAAF
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| Born in San Francisco, California on 17 March 1919, David
Winthrop Allen attended the University of California at Berkley for three years, and
then left his studies to enter the real estate business with his father. Drafted
into the Army in February 1941 , he served in the infantry until the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor. The following day, he volunteered for pilot training and received
his wings and commission as a second lieutenant with Class 42-G at Luke Field,
Arizona. Following advanced training as a fighter pilot, Lieutenant Allen was sent to the South Pacific and assigned to the 7th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group, based in New Guinea. Flying a P-40K, he scored two victories with the squadron - a pair of Lily twin-engine bombers shot down near Wau on 6 February 1943. After nine months with the 49th, Allen, now a first lieutenant was sent to Australia to form the cadre of the newly-organized 475th Fighter Group, equipped with the P-38 Lightning. Assigned to the 431st Fighter Squadron, he returned to combat in New Guinea. In five days of combat in August 1943 he became an ace, downing an Oscar and a Kate over Marilinan, New Guinea on the 16th and two Zekes and an Oscar on the 21st near Wewak. He was credited with his last victory on 16 December shooting down a Betty near Arawe, New Britain. Allen left the service in August 1945 and returned to his real estate business in San Francisco. He subsequently expanded his enterprise to include distribution of industrial alcohol products in a multi-state area. |