Dr Colin Douglas Allen
Class of 1951
Dr Colin Douglas Allen (Apsley, 1947-1951)
Colin passed away on 10th July 2022.
The following was taken from the written eulogy delivered at Colin’s Funeral Mass, kindly provided by his wife Anne.
Colin Douglas Allen died shortly before his 89th birthday, having just celebrated 65 years of marriage to Anne. Their wedding day in 1957 had included a nuptial Latin mass and a Papal blessing by Pope Pius XII.
He had a tragic early life, as did many children born in the World War II years. His father was a Japanese prisoner of war in Burma after Singapore fell to the enemy and his mother died in childbirth when he was three. His grandmother had her Lancaster gate home requisitioned as an officer’s billet which she ran in the war as part of her war effort.
Colin spent his early years in boarding schools for Officers’ children; his extended family cared for him and his sister in the holidays. Later, he attended his father’s and uncle’s old school, St Edwards, Oxford. After school, just as Colin was about to start medical school, his grandmother died, and to support himself, he instead took up a Short Service Commission to join the RAF as a pilot and then Flying Officer.
He flew many types of ground-attack fighters, including Meteors, Vampires and Venom jet aircraft. For five years he flew with 94 Squadron in Celle, Germany, leaving as a flight Lieutenant. After completing his commission, but still serving in the RAF Reserve, he applied to London Hospital Medical School.
Colin trained as a neurologist at the Royal London Hospital and National Hospital for Nervous Diseases at Queen’s Square. His specialty training continued at the University Hospitals of Cardiff, Sheffield, Bristol, Bath and Manchester.
As a Senior Registrar in Neurology, he was asked to take up a research appointment at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, New York. Later, after being awarded an MD Degree (University of London) for his research work, he became a Consultant Neurologist. He trained many other Neurologists in a newly built referral hospital in New Hampshire, a specialist tertiary referral centre covering much of New England. Medical students at Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire benefitted from his teaching abilities and clinical experience. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) in recognition of his clinical service and achievements. Colin retired as Professor Emeritus but continued his clinical work long after his retirement until the age of 73, when he contracted a usually rare viral condition of the brain, a complication of his medication.
Later, Colin returned with Anne to the family home in Rottingdean, previously owned by Anne’s parents, Mr and Mrs W A Maguire who had lived and been members of the Parish since 1960. Mr Maguire received the Papal Knighthood of St Gregory for services to Catholic education.
Colin’s three children were inspired to follow him into various branches of Medicine, Surgery and Radiology and are Consultants in those fields. Several of his grandchildren are carrying on this medical tradition.
Colin loved Rottingdean, spending many hours in later life enjoying the magnificent view across the valley, windmill, and the sea beyond.
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