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Geoffrey Allard

Name : Geoffrey Allard Died : 13th March 1941 Air Victories : 23.80 Awards : Distinguished Flying Cross Distinguished Flying Medal Distinguished Flying Medal with 1 Bar

Born 1912, "Sammy" Allard joined the RAF in 1929, training to be a pilot in the late 1930s, before joining No.87 Sqn, but transferred to No.85 Sqn soon after. Flying Hurricanes in the Battle of France, Allard racked up 8 victories, and added another 8 during the Battle of Britain, before 85 squadron became a night-fighting unit. Sammy Allard was piloting a Havoc aircraft on 13th March 1941 when a small panel displodged and jammed the rudder, causing the plane to crash, and killing all on board, including New Zealand Ace William Hodgson. Allard was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal, which does not appear in the London Gazette, to our knowledge, a Bar to the Distinguished Flying Medal, gazetted on 13th September 1940, and the Distinguished Flying Cross, gazetted on 8th October 1940. Citation for the Distinguished Flying Cross : Between 30th August and ist September, 1940, this officer destroyed seven enemy aircraft; previously he had destroyed ten and shared in the destruction of others. He has displayed outstanding skill and courage in combat against the enemy.

COMBAT REPORTS

Combat Reports Personal combat reports from this pilot. 10th May 1940 05.00 hrs, A Flight, 85 Squadron. One HeIII K at a height of 14000 to 18000 feet, over Armentieres. Patrolling north of Lille, saw enemy aircraft over Armentieres. Closed with enemy aircraft, he immediately opened fire with tracers from rear gun. I opened fire at 300 yards range diving down on him. I continued to close until a cloud of black smoke and oil covered my aircraft. Saw him go down in steep spiral and was about to follow when I saw another fighter engage him. I broke off the engagement near Ypres. 10th May 1940 14.45 hrs, A Flight, 85 Squadron. One HeIII at a height of 7000 feet over Carvin. Returning from Vimy on a north east course when saw HeIII K on left. Climbed into sun to 8000 feet and aligned quarter attack. First burst registered so attacked from other quarter. Each time I closed to within 50 yards. Line astern attack from 300 yards. As I closed, enemy aircraft dived into ground in flames one mile of Gondecourt. Verified by P/O Martin nothin of enemy aircraft remains. 10th May 1940 20.35 hrs, A Flight, 85 Squadron. Two HeIIIs at a height of 10000 feet, south of Cambrai. Ordered to take off 20.15 hrs. As Red leader, I took off with Red 2 and climbed up to the enemy at 10,000 feet. When in position I attacked the right hand aircraft and Red 2 the left hand. We closed the attack to 50 yards approximately. I found it essential to break away upwards and in front. I then delivered an attack from the quarter, and saw that both aircraft were losing oil, and black smoke came from the engines. I carried on the attack after Red 2 ran out of ammunition, and before breaking away, saw both aircraft losing height. The undercarriage of the port enemy aircraft was hanging down. 8th July 1940 10.23 hrs, A Flight, 85 Squadron. One HeIII at a height of 8000 feet, ten miles south east of Felixstowe. I took off from Martlesham at 10.08 hrs to patrol. After 2 minutes I approached enemy aircraft heading east. In closing the attack, the rear gunner of the enemy aircraft opened fire. I positioned myself for attack and dropped down from 8,000 feet to 7,000 feet. I delivered a line astern attack and fired two bursts of three seconds, following the enemy aircraft down through the cloud to 3,000 feet. At this height I met the enemy aircraft in a diving position. As I came through the clouds a few seconds later I noticed a line of oil on the surface of the water, but there was no sign of the enemy aircraft. Returned to Martlesham at 10.47 hrs. 30th July 1940 15.30 hrs, A Flight, 85 Squadron. Two Me110 at a low level, 40 miles off the coast. I was with Red section as No.2 on our way to patrol when I saw anti-aircraft fire from a trawler behind the convoy. I heard Red 1 Tally Ho and followed him in line astern. I saw two Me110s about two miles ahead flying north at low level. Enemy aircraft turned east ahead of convoy and I closed convoy to intercept. I saw Red 1 carry out two attacks from astern. After the second attack he broke away and I closed in to about 150 yards firing continuously to about 25 yards. I saw the starboard motor break into pieces and the enemy aircraft disappeared beneath me. I saw enemy tracer, but received no hits. After I broke away I chased the second Me110 which disappeared into low cloud. I reformed with Red 1 and returned to base. 85 Squadron Operational Record Book - 12 October 1940 12 hours 35 minutes non-op flying consisting of formation and cloud flying. Practice squadron formation, pilots were Sqdn Ldr Townsend, Flt Lt Marshall, FO Hemingway, Sgt Goodman, Sgt Webster, Sgt Berkeley, Sgt Gray, Flt Lt Allard, PO Thompson.

Known Service Details :
Squadron	Rank	Start of Service	End of Service	Known Dates	Aircraft	Airframes	Notes
No.85 Sqn RAF	Flight Lieutenant	unknown	unknown	12th October 1940	Hurricane
No.87 Sqn RAF		unknown	unknown

Aircraft for : Geoffrey Allard
A list of all aircraft associated with Geoffrey Allard. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name.
Aircraft	Info
Havoc Click the name above to see prints featuring Havoc aircraft. Manufacturer : Douglas	Havoc A-20
Hurricane Click the name above to see prints featuring Hurricane aircraft. Manufacturer : Hawker Production Began : 1936 Number Built : 14533	Hurricane Royal Air Force Fighter, the Hawker Hurricane had a top speed of 320mph, at 18,200 feet and 340mph at 17,500, ceiling of 34,200 and a range of 935 miles. The Hurricane was armed with eight fixed wing mounted .303 browning machine guns in the Mark I and twelve .303 browning's in the MKIIB in the Hurricane MKIIC it had four 20mm cannon. All time classic fighter the Hurricane was designed in 1933-1934, the first prototype flew in June 1936 and a contract for 600 for the Royal Air Force was placed. The first production model flew ion the 12th October 1937 and 111 squadron of the Royal Air Force received the first Hurricanes in January 1938. By the outbreak of World war two the Royal Air Force had 18 operational squadrons of Hurricanes. During the Battle of Britain a total of 1715 Hurricanes took part, (which was more than the rest of the aircraft of the Royal air force put together) and almost 75% of the Victories during the Battle of Britain went to hurricane pilots. The Hawker Hurricane was used in all theatres during World war two, and in many roles. in total 14,533 Hurricanes were built.

Squadrons for : Geoffrey Allard
A list of all squadrons known to have been served with by Geoffrey Allard. A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name.
Squadron	Info
No.85 Sqn RAF Country : UK Founded : 1st August 1917 Fate : Disbanded 19th December 1975 Noctu diuque venamur - We hunt by day and night Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.85 Sqn RAF	No.85 Sqn RAF No. 85 Squadron was formed on the 1st of August 1917 at Uphaven. Shortly afterwards the squadron moved to Mousehold Heath nea Norwich under the command of Major R A Archer. The squadron transferred to Hounslow in November 1917 and in March 1918 received its new commander Major William Avery Bishop VC, DSO, MC. On 1st April 1918 No.85 Squadron was transferred into the new Royal Air Force and went to France in May1918 flying the Sopwith Dolphin and later SE5A's. 85 Squadron duties were fighter patrols and ground attack sorties over the western front until the end of the war. On 21st June 1918 Major Edward Mannock DSO MC became commanding officer. On the 26th July 1918 during a patrol with Lt DC Inglis over the front line Major Mannock failed to return and on the 18th of July 1919 Major Mannock was awarded a posthumous VC. No. 85 Squadron had 99 victories during their stint on the western front, returning to the UK in February 1919, and being disbanded on the 3rd of July 1919. 85 Squadron was reformed on June 1st, 1938, as part of A Flight of 87 Squadron based at RAF Debden commanded by Flight Lieutenant D E Turner. The squadron started training on the Gloster Gladiator until the 4th of September when Hawker Hurricanes were supplied. On the outbreak of World War Two the squadron moved to Boos as part of the Air Component of the BEF 60th Fighter Wing, and their Hurricanes were given the role to support the squadrons of Bristol Blenheims and Fairey Battles. By 1st November 85 Squadron's Hurricanes were moved to Lille Seclin. 85 Squadron scored its first victory of World War Two when Flight Lieutenant R.H.A. Lee attacked an He111 which crashed into the Channel, exploding on impact while on patrol over the Boulogne area. In May 1940, during the German advance, 85 Squadron were in combat constantly and over an 11 day period the squadron confirmed 90 enemy kills. When their operating airfields were overun the squadron's last remaining three Hurricanes returned to England. The squadron lost 17 pilots (two killed, six wounded and nine missing). During the Battle of Britian the squadron took part in the conflict over southern England and in October the Squadron moved to Yorkshire and were given the new role of night fighter patrols. 85 Squadron continued in the night fighter role for most of the war, with only a brief period as bomber support as part of 100 group.
No.87 Sqn RAF Country : UK Founded : 1st September 1917 Fate : Disbanded 3rd January 1961 United Provinces Maximus me metuit - The most powerful fear me Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.87 Sqn RAF	No.87 Sqn RAF No. 87 Squadron was formed from a major part of D Squadron of the Central Flying School at Upavon on 1st September 1917. In April 1918, 87 Squadron was equipped with Dolphins when it was sent to France to fly in fighter and ground attack operations. This the squadron did to the end of the Great War, returning back to the UK in February 1919, and was disbanding on 24th June 1919. 87 Squadron was reformed on 15th March 1937 at Tangmere and was equipped with Hawker Furies until being re-equipped with the Gloster Gladiator in June when the squadron was based at Debden. In July 1938, 87 Squadron was again re-equipped with Hawker Hurricanes and with the outbreak of World War Two the squadron was moved to France as part of the Air Force supporting the British Expeditionary Force. 87 Squadron supplied air support to the troops on the Northern Front until their airfields were overrun by the German forces. The squadron was then moved to Yorkshire, moving again to south-west England in July for defence roles both day and night. The squadron was mainly used in a night fighter role during the Battle of Britain and remained mainly in that role until the end of 1942, while also beginning intruder missions in March 1941. The squadron was then moved to Gibraltar In November 1942 as part of the build up for the invasion of North Africa, remaining there until September 1943 when the squadron again moved to Sicily. In January 1944, the squadrons main role was to patrol over the Balkans form their base in Italy. In August 1944, the squadron returned to night duties performing fighter-bomber missions and in this role 87 squadron remained until the end of the war. On 30th December 1946, the squadron was disbanded. No.87 reformed on 1st January 1952 at Wahn as a night-fighter squadron in Germany, initially operating the Meteor jet fighter but by the end of 1957 the Meteor was replaced with the Javelin until the squadron was finally disbanded in January 1961. Pilots of 87 Sqn c.1941. Second from the right is P/O G. L. Roscoe. Many thanks to Flight Lieutenant Alex Thom DFC who supplied this photo.

Last edited : 14:08, January 25, 2013
Last editor : DataStream

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