Cromer Servicemen and Servicewomen in the First World War

Name	Edward Walter Allen
Ward	Cromer
Armed Force	R.N.A.S Squadron & lIfeboat crew
Notes	A fisherman by trade, his parents were Walter & Rose Allen of 15 North Row, Cromer. He enlisted on 7/9/1914 at Norwich, Norfolk Regiment but was discharged 6/11/1914, 'Not likely to become an efficient soldier...unfit for service'. He was listed in the 'Kitchener's Army' list in the Cromer Post of January 1915 but went on to serve with the R.N.A.S. Armoured Car Squadron in Russia. On return to Cromer he was a regular member of Cromer lifeboat crew and of the Methodist chapel. He was the signaller for the lifeboat with semaphore flags, a skill he had doubtless learned whilst serving with the R.N.A.S. When the Cromer lifeboat almost capsized on the occasion of the 'English Trader' service, he was thrown into the water alongside several other crew members. He was pulled from the water but died en route to the harbour at Great Yarmouth. He had not drowned but died of heart failure. His gravestone in Cromer cemetery was restored in 2011. He was generally known as Walter Allen; his nickname amongst the fishermen was 'Primo'. His name is read at the annual remembrance service amongst the service personnel; strictly speaking at the time of his death he was a civilian as were all the lifeboat crew.
Date of Birth	12/10/1893
Date of Death	26/10/1941
Source	Cromer Post 15th Jan 1915
	Walter 'Primo' Allen, lifeboat crew member, circa 1940.
	Walter Allen in naval uniform.