Private William Allen came from Alfreton and was born in about 1897. He had a fair complexion, blue eyes, and light brown hair. William was a coal miner by trade before serving in the Great War (1914-18). 

He enlisted on the 18th of February 1916, and was initially posted to the 3rd Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters. William was then transferred to the 1st Battalion, where he served as a rifleman in a section of ‘C’ Company from 1916.  He was slightly wounded by shrapnel in 1917. 

William was treated for his wound, and it is believed that after this, he was transferred to the East Kent Regiment (the ‘Buffs’). William was transferred to ‘C’ Company of the 7th Battalion in August 1918.  

In September 1918, William was again wounded, this time in Cambrai, and invalided out of the theatre of war. He had a gunshot wound to the left hand, which later led to his middle finger being amputated. He was deemed physically unfit in January 1919; he was awarded the Silver War Badge and subsequently discharged.