Herb Allen

Date and Place of Birth: May 24, 1919 Logansport, Indiana

Died: March 5, 1995 Monticello, Indiana
Baseball Experience: Semi-Pro
Position: Pitcher
Rank: Private First Class
Military Unit: 409th Bomb Squadron, 93^rd Bomb Group USAAF

Area Served: European Theater of Operations

Herbert A “Herb” Allen was born in Logansport, Indiana on May 24, 1919. Allen was employed as a foreman at RBM Manufacturing in Logansport and pitched for the company’s baseball team.

He was inducted into the armed services at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana on February 4, 1942 and served with the Army Air Force. Based at Hardwick in England with the 409th Bomb Squadron, 93^rd Bomb Group, Allen was an airplane armorer loading bombs on Consolidated B-24 Liberator’s for their daytime missions to Europe.

Private First Class Allen pitched for the 93rd Bomb Group Flying Circus ball team while in England - one of the most successful USAAF teams in the ETO. He later served with the 93^rd in North Africa.

Allen received his honorable discharge at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, on September 2, 1945, and returned to his job at RBM.

Allen was a very private man. "We learned more on dad's past in one weekend than he ever talked about," said his daughter, Betty Eib, after I contacted her some years ago. "We never knew about dad playing baseball while in the military," Eib said. "He never talked about this time."

After ill health for a number of years, Herb Allen died on March 5, 1995 in Monticello, Indiana.

Thanks to Betty Eib, Elizabeth Marks, Michael J Allen and Charles Knepper for help with this biography.

Created July 15, 2006. Updated January 22, 2007.

Copyright © 2007 Gary Bedingfield (Baseball in Wartime). All Rights Reserved.