Born 1924 the son of John Thomas and Fanny E Allen of Worlington. His father was gamekeeper at Affeton Castle.
Francis enlisted in Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and served with 424 Squadron, formed in October 1942 as part of Bomber Command.
The Squadron flew Wellington Bombers, a frontline bomber in Bomber Command, stationed at Topcliffe, Yorkshire until April 1943 before moving to RAF Leeming.
424 Squadron flew its first mission on 15/16 January 1943 when 5 Wellingtons bombed Lorient, the Squadron continued bombing raids over Germany for the four months.
RAF records show on the nights of:
6/7 February 1943 52 Wellingtons and 20 Halifax aircraft laid mines between St Nazaire and Texel. 3 Wellingtons lost.
7/8 February: 323 aircraft (100 Wellingtons, 81 Halifax, 80 Lancasters and 62 Stirlings flew a raid over Lorient. 3 Lancaster, 2 Halifax and 2 Wellingtons were lost.
Sergeant Francis Allen died on 7 February 1943.
His name is engraved on Panel 140 at the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede which commemorates over 20,000 airmen who were lost during operations in WWII and have no known grave.