ALLEN Michael John

Captain Michael John Allen Royal Hampshire Regiment & Army Cadet Force

General Service Medal ' Malaya'. Campaign Service Medal 'Borneo' Northern Ireland'. Cadet Forces Medal.

The Man The only details known about Michael John Allen are that he enlisted into the Royal Hampshire Regiment with service number 22716953 and promoted to the rank of Sergeant. He saw active service during the Malayan Campaign of 1948 -1960, the Borneo Campaign of 1962-1966 and in Northern Ireland from 1969. He was awarded the General Service Medal with ‘Malaya’ clasp and the Campaign Service Medal with ‘Borneo’ and ‘Northern Ireland’ clasps.

It seems that Michael also served in the Gloucester Regiment and promoted to WO 2, retiring from the Army in 1975 his final posting being in Germany, later joining the 1st Battalion Wessex Regiment (Rifle Volunteers) as Colour Sergeant.

19th September 1978 he was Commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant into the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Area of the Army Cadet Force with service number 507763 and promoted to Lieutenant two years later on 19th September 1980. He was awarded the Cadet Forces Medal for 12 years continuous service in December 1990 having been promoted to Captain.

Michael retired from the Army Cadet Force on 7th June 1995 and was awarded an engraved Decanter and silver Quaich.

The Story The post war trio of medals awarded to Michael John Allen were acquired from E-Bay on 14th March 2016. They were of interest initially because of the double clasped Campaign Service Medal and Cadet Forces Medal combination. However it was later discovered that an engraved cigarette case, two tankards, an enamelled cap badge, an engraved Quaich and decanter were also listed separately that had belonged to Michael.

It seemed logical to keep the lot of personal items together for posterity, and so bids were placed on each item and acquired.

Only a very basic biography has been possible as there are too great a number of Michael John Allen’s on Ancestry.UK.

Click here to read about the Royal Hampshire Regiment

Click here to read about the Malaya campaign

Click here to read about the Borneo Campaign

Click here to read about the Northern Ireland Campaign 'The Troubles'