Commonwealth War Grave Trecella

Trecella Cemetery contains one Commonwealth war grave from World War II.

Commonwealth War Grave Trecella GPS: B: 45.51632, L: 9.4828)

In this civil cemetery of the parish of Trecella, in the municipality of Pozzuolo Martesana, c.
30 km east of Milan, is buried in Section IV (current section D), Row 5, Grave 5, the 20 year old RAF pilot, Sergeant James Keir Allan, service number 710332. On his gravestone is written:
"Of Salisbury Southern Rhodesia 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron. Resurget in Christo".

Sergeant James Keir Allen was born in 1925 in Blantyre, located in the former British protectorate of Nyasaland, known since 1964 as the independent state of Malawi.
He was born of the marriage between David Andrew and Mary Allan. Later the family moved to Avondale in Southern Rhodesia, present-day Zimbabwe. Today, Avondale is a residential area of Harare, formerly known as Salisbury and capital of Zimbabwe.

There he was educated at the Prince Edward School which was located in Salisbury (Harare).
This school was founded in 1898 as Salisbury Grammer (Lower) School. In 1906 the name was changed to Salisbury High School. The school took its current name in 1925 after a visit from Edward, Prince of Wales.

In July 1943 he enlisted in the RAF and was subsequently trained as a pilot in Rhodesia. In November 1944 it became operational and deployed to the Mediterranean front where it was assigned to the RAF stationed in Italy. no. 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron. This squadron then flew the Supermarine Spitfire Mk. IX from Falconara airbase, located on the Italian east coast, in the province of Ancona, region of La Marche (Marches), on the Adriatic sea coast.

In February 1945 he was transferred with this squadron to the more northerly and west coast airbase Rosignano in the province of Livorno, Tuscany region, on the Mediterranean coast.

On 24 April 1945, at 13:55, Sergeant James Allen took off in the Spitfire, serial number MK251, from RAF Station Rosignano, flying as No.2 behind his formation leader, for an armed (naval) reconnaissance over the Ligurian Sea and Northern Italy . East of Milan, the Spitfire formation encountered some anti-aircraft fire.

After the formation leader noticed that his No.2 was no longer flying behind him, this sergeant called Allen on the ship's radio. There was no response, and although the area was searched, Sergeant Allen was never heard from again. It later transpired that Sergeant Allan had been hit by the aforementioned flak and had crashed into a meadow near the village of Trecella, about 30 km east of Milan. Sergeant Allan was killed just two weeks before the end of the war in Europe.

Later research showed that around the village of Trecella at least six German anti-aircraft (FLAK) emplacements were stationed. In November 2014, remains of his Spitfire were found by aviation historians from the Air Crash Po Airfinders.

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Source

• Text: Kaj Metz, Corin Gelderblom
• Photos: Corin Gelderblom
• "A Pride of Eagles"; door Beryl Salt (2e Druk 2015).
• "A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940-1945": Volume 5; Christopher Shores, Giovanni Massimello, Russell Guest (2021).
• https://www.ilgiorno.it/cremona/cronaca/aereo-caduto-guerra-1.383442
• http://www.dal-quadruplicamento-al-passante.it/pozzuolo-libro-pozzuolo-trecella-e-bisentrate/
• https://www.sostenitori.info/2014/11/09/air-crash-po-airfinders-i-cacciatori-degli-aerei-caduti-trovano-lo-spitfire-abbattuto-nel-44/
• https://www.ilcittadino.it/stories/lettere_al_direttore/qualcuno-ha-notizie-su-uno-spitfire-schiantatosi-nel-1945_48381_96/