1st Lt. Allen, a photographer on a military aircraft with the 14th Air Force, was assigned to 16th Combat Camera Unit. He had been in China nearly 2 years and had flown the India-China 'Hump' several times. His plane was shot down over China sometime in June of 1945. He bailed out safely but was quickly captured by Japanese soldiers, taken prisoner, and sent to a P.O. W. camp. The train he was being transported on exploded which caused his death. Several articles in the Washington Post between July and October of 1945 detail his life during this period. He was a native of Washington, D.C. His remains were sent back home in late Sept. of 1945 and he was buried on the 1st of Oct. 1945. His mother was Marie A. Wiles of Washington, D.C. He attended the University of Maryland, College Park for a few years and then George Washington University in D.C. prior to joining the US Army Air Corps in 1943.
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Find A Grave contributor Tony Strotman added this on 25 May, 2014:
I have been researching the 16th Combat Camera Unit some time, and I am working on a tribute web site for the Unit. I am working on a memorial page for Lt. Allen and in the Unit's history for June 1945 I found the quoted portion below related to Lt. Merlin Allen's death.
The 16th received a radio message from Chihkiang on 26 June which reported he was missing. A later message stated – "At 1520 hours, 25 June 1945, 322nd T. C. (Troop Carrier) Sq. ship # 458 took off on routine drop mission to Liuyang, Hunan Povince, China, with secondary mission to drop leaflets in the Changsha area on return trip."
A statement by Lt. David Olds of the Office of War Information included in the message related, "The cargo drop at Liyuang was completed and the pilot headed for Changsha. At about 500 feet altitude, shortly after 1730 and perhaps a mile west of the air strip at Changsha, light flak was encountered, most 40mm. The pilot put the plane into a shallow dive to get on the deck. During the initial flak, I was sitting on the floor at the cargo door with a Thompson sub-machine gun, looking for a flak battery. Capt. Blackwell, Lt. Bunt both OWI officers, and Lt. Allen were throwing leaflets out of the door over my head. As the dive started I fired one full clip at a flak battery. The speed of the airplane reached two hundred mph indicated or better, still in a shallow dive, and I got up to get another clip. As I turned back towards the cargo door, I saw Capt Blackwell on his side, apparently pulling himself out of the door in an attempt to bail out. I stepped to the door as his feet disappeared, and immediately Lt. Allen brushed by me and went out the door in a long jump.
"For the next few moments, no one moved or said a thing, because of the suddenness of the two bail-outs. We judge the plane was about on or two hundred feet above the terrain, just a few blocks west of the heart of Changsha when the two officers jumped. By this time flak was thinning out and we were over the river, on the deck before we could fully realize what happened. Why Capt. Blackwell, experienced combat parachutist with jumps in Europe, should jump is a matter of speculation. There was no bailout signal given, the airplane was at all times under control and the altitude was such that a jump was almost certain to be fatal. It is assumed that Lt. Allen became panicked and thought the ship was crashing when he saw Capt. Blackwell jumping, so he followed him right out the door. The return to Chihkiang was without further incident."
This was the last news the 16th CCU heard of Lt. Allen, however, he had bailed out safely. Lt. Allen's status as established as "KIA" in Supplemental Battle Casualty Report based upon an O.S.S. report which, quoting Japanese sources, related "… the subject officer was captured on 25 June 1945. He was subsequently injured in a train explosion on 2 July 1945 about 1.5 miles from Tatoupu Station while he was enroute to Headquarters (Japanese) at Hengyang (China). He later died at 0530 hours on 16 July at Changsha. He was initially buried behind Japanese Gendarmerie Headquarters at Changsha."
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Find A Grave contributor Tony Strotman added this on 25 May, 2014:
I have been researching the 16th Combat Camera Unit some time, and I am working on a tribute web site for the Unit. I am working on a memorial page for Lt. Allen and in the Unit's history for June 1945 I found the quoted portion below related to Lt. Merlin Allen's death.
The 16th received a radio message from Chihkiang on 26 June which reported he was missing. A later message stated – "At 1520 hours, 25 June 1945, 322nd T. C. (Troop Carrier) Sq. ship # 458 took off on routine drop mission to Liuyang, Hunan Povince, China, with secondary mission to drop leaflets in the Changsha area on return trip."
A statement by Lt. David Olds of the Office of War Information included in the message related, "The cargo drop at Liyuang was completed and the pilot headed for Changsha. At about 500 feet altitude, shortly after 1730 and perhaps a mile west of the air strip at Changsha, light flak was encountered, most 40mm. The pilot put the plane into a shallow dive to get on the deck. During the initial flak, I was sitting on the floor at the cargo door with a Thompson sub-machine gun, looking for a flak battery. Capt. Blackwell, Lt. Bunt both OWI officers, and Lt. Allen were throwing leaflets out of the door over my head. As the dive started I fired one full clip at a flak battery. The speed of the airplane reached two hundred mph indicated or better, still in a shallow dive, and I got up to get another clip. As I turned back towards the cargo door, I saw Capt Blackwell on his side, apparently pulling himself out of the door in an attempt to bail out. I stepped to the door as his feet disappeared, and immediately Lt. Allen brushed by me and went out the door in a long jump.
"For the next few moments, no one moved or said a thing, because of the suddenness of the two bail-outs. We judge the plane was about on or two hundred feet above the terrain, just a few blocks west of the heart of Changsha when the two officers jumped. By this time flak was thinning out and we were over the river, on the deck before we could fully realize what happened. Why Capt. Blackwell, experienced combat parachutist with jumps in Europe, should jump is a matter of speculation. There was no bailout signal given, the airplane was at all times under control and the altitude was such that a jump was almost certain to be fatal. It is assumed that Lt. Allen became panicked and thought the ship was crashing when he saw Capt. Blackwell jumping, so he followed him right out the door. The return to Chihkiang was without further incident."
This was the last news the 16th CCU heard of Lt. Allen, however, he had bailed out safely. Lt. Allen's status as established as "KIA" in Supplemental Battle Casualty Report based upon an O.S.S. report which, quoting Japanese sources, related "… the subject officer was captured on 25 June 1945. He was subsequently injured in a train explosion on 2 July 1945 about 1.5 miles from Tatoupu Station while he was enroute to Headquarters (Japanese) at Hengyang (China). He later died at 0530 hours on 16 July at Changsha. He was initially buried behind Japanese Gendarmerie Headquarters at Changsha."
1st Lt. Allen, a photographer on a military aircraft with the 14th Air Force, was assigned to 16th Combat Camera Unit. He had been in China nearly 2 years and had flown the India-China 'Hump' several times. His plane was shot down over China sometime in June of 1945. He bailed out safely but was quickly captured by Japanese soldiers, taken prisoner, and sent to a P.O. W. camp. The train he was being transported on exploded which caused his death. Several articles in the Washington Post between July and October of 1945 detail his life during this period. He was a native of Washington, D.C. His remains were sent back home in late Sept. of 1945 and he was buried on the 1st of Oct. 1945. His mother was Marie A. Wiles of Washington, D.C. He attended the University of Maryland, College Park for a few years and then George Washington University in D.C. prior to joining the US Army Air Corps in 1943.
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Find A Grave contributor Tony Strotman added this on 25 May, 2014:
I have been researching the 16th Combat Camera Unit some time, and I am working on a tribute web site for the Unit. I am working on a memorial page for Lt. Allen and in the Unit's history for June 1945 I found the quoted portion below related to Lt. Merlin Allen's death.
The 16th received a radio message from Chihkiang on 26 June which reported he was missing. A later message stated – "At 1520 hours, 25 June 1945, 322nd T. C. (Troop Carrier) Sq. ship # 458 took off on routine drop mission to Liuyang, Hunan Povince, China, with secondary mission to drop leaflets in the Changsha area on return trip."
A statement by Lt. David Olds of the Office of War Information included in the message related, "The cargo drop at Liyuang was completed and the pilot headed for Changsha. At about 500 feet altitude, shortly after 1730 and perhaps a mile west of the air strip at Changsha, light flak was encountered, most 40mm. The pilot put the plane into a shallow dive to get on the deck. During the initial flak, I was sitting on the floor at the cargo door with a Thompson sub-machine gun, looking for a flak battery. Capt. Blackwell, Lt. Bunt both OWI officers, and Lt. Allen were throwing leaflets out of the door over my head. As the dive started I fired one full clip at a flak battery. The speed of the airplane reached two hundred mph indicated or better, still in a shallow dive, and I got up to get another clip. As I turned back towards the cargo door, I saw Capt Blackwell on his side, apparently pulling himself out of the door in an attempt to bail out. I stepped to the door as his feet disappeared, and immediately Lt. Allen brushed by me and went out the door in a long jump.
"For the next few moments, no one moved or said a thing, because of the suddenness of the two bail-outs. We judge the plane was about on or two hundred feet above the terrain, just a few blocks west of the heart of Changsha when the two officers jumped. By this time flak was thinning out and we were over the river, on the deck before we could fully realize what happened. Why Capt. Blackwell, experienced combat parachutist with jumps in Europe, should jump is a matter of speculation. There was no bailout signal given, the airplane was at all times under control and the altitude was such that a jump was almost certain to be fatal. It is assumed that Lt. Allen became panicked and thought the ship was crashing when he saw Capt. Blackwell jumping, so he followed him right out the door. The return to Chihkiang was without further incident."
This was the last news the 16th CCU heard of Lt. Allen, however, he had bailed out safely. Lt. Allen's status as established as "KIA" in Supplemental Battle Casualty Report based upon an O.S.S. report which, quoting Japanese sources, related "… the subject officer was captured on 25 June 1945. He was subsequently injured in a train explosion on 2 July 1945 about 1.5 miles from Tatoupu Station while he was enroute to Headquarters (Japanese) at Hengyang (China). He later died at 0530 hours on 16 July at Changsha. He was initially buried behind Japanese Gendarmerie Headquarters at Changsha."
****
Find A Grave contributor Tony Strotman added this on 25 May, 2014:
I have been researching the 16th Combat Camera Unit some time, and I am working on a tribute web site for the Unit. I am working on a memorial page for Lt. Allen and in the Unit's history for June 1945 I found the quoted portion below related to Lt. Merlin Allen's death.
The 16th received a radio message from Chihkiang on 26 June which reported he was missing. A later message stated – "At 1520 hours, 25 June 1945, 322nd T. C. (Troop Carrier) Sq. ship # 458 took off on routine drop mission to Liuyang, Hunan Povince, China, with secondary mission to drop leaflets in the Changsha area on return trip."
A statement by Lt. David Olds of the Office of War Information included in the message related, "The cargo drop at Liyuang was completed and the pilot headed for Changsha. At about 500 feet altitude, shortly after 1730 and perhaps a mile west of the air strip at Changsha, light flak was encountered, most 40mm. The pilot put the plane into a shallow dive to get on the deck. During the initial flak, I was sitting on the floor at the cargo door with a Thompson sub-machine gun, looking for a flak battery. Capt. Blackwell, Lt. Bunt both OWI officers, and Lt. Allen were throwing leaflets out of the door over my head. As the dive started I fired one full clip at a flak battery. The speed of the airplane reached two hundred mph indicated or better, still in a shallow dive, and I got up to get another clip. As I turned back towards the cargo door, I saw Capt Blackwell on his side, apparently pulling himself out of the door in an attempt to bail out. I stepped to the door as his feet disappeared, and immediately Lt. Allen brushed by me and went out the door in a long jump.
"For the next few moments, no one moved or said a thing, because of the suddenness of the two bail-outs. We judge the plane was about on or two hundred feet above the terrain, just a few blocks west of the heart of Changsha when the two officers jumped. By this time flak was thinning out and we were over the river, on the deck before we could fully realize what happened. Why Capt. Blackwell, experienced combat parachutist with jumps in Europe, should jump is a matter of speculation. There was no bailout signal given, the airplane was at all times under control and the altitude was such that a jump was almost certain to be fatal. It is assumed that Lt. Allen became panicked and thought the ship was crashing when he saw Capt. Blackwell jumping, so he followed him right out the door. The return to Chihkiang was without further incident."
This was the last news the 16th CCU heard of Lt. Allen, however, he had bailed out safely. Lt. Allen's status as established as "KIA" in Supplemental Battle Casualty Report based upon an O.S.S. report which, quoting Japanese sources, related "… the subject officer was captured on 25 June 1945. He was subsequently injured in a train explosion on 2 July 1945 about 1.5 miles from Tatoupu Station while he was enroute to Headquarters (Japanese) at Hengyang (China). He later died at 0530 hours on 16 July at Changsha. He was initially buried behind Japanese Gendarmerie Headquarters at Changsha."
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