Air Commodore Allen Henry Mawer DFC

Allen Mawer was born on 16 December 1921, the son of Gordon and Emily Mawer   

When WW2 broke out in 1939 he joined the RAF qualifying as a Sergeant Pilot before being commissioned in 1942 from which time he flew for Bomber Command, serving with 624 and 106 Squadron for the duration of the war.

Flying a Wellington he took part in the first thousand bomber raid over Germany and in 1943 he was awarded a DFC and later Mentioned in Despatches.

In June 1944 he piloted a Wellington used to drop three British spies into occupied France in Ardeche.

In 1948 he was granted a permanent commission as Flight Lieutenant and in 1956 he attended the RAF Staff College.

In 1960 he returned to the College as a staff member before appointment in 1963 as Officer in Charge of flying at the RAF base at Luqa in Malta.

Promotion to Group Captain in 1965 saw Allen move to RAF Scampton where he assumed base command which included the Vulcan bombers base and with it their nuclear bomb capability at a time when the cold war was still a real issue.

One of the highlights of his command was the 24^th anniversary of the famous Dambusters Raid when most of the surviving members of 614 Squadron attended for a dinner and flypast.

In 1969 Allen moved to a series of desk jobs with the Imperial Defence College. Strike Command, College of Air Warfare and director of forward planning before in 1972 promotion to Air Commodore and command of Plans and air, HQ Strike Command.

His last ground command came in 1973 when returned to a much changed Luqa base in Malta as Air Commander, Malta.

On retirement from the RAF he became general manager for Basildon Development Corporation and then Managing Director of Docklands Development until he finally retired in 1980.

He married Pamela Mitchell Thomas in 1848 with who he had a son and a daughter. On the death of Pamela in Marsh 1982 he Married Elizabeth Stokes in December of that year at Burnham on Crouch.

Allen was interested in sailing and was a member of the Royal Burnham Sailing Club which no doubt prompted his move to buy a house in High Street, Burnham on Crouch where he lived until his death on 15 May 1989.

He is buried in Althorne cemetery.