Private Allen James Head – 5/1839

 


https://www.honouravenueskingspark.com.au/present/hap-database/2671-pte-allen-alan-head


There are no known photos of Private Allen James Head. The 19-year-old West Australian soldier died in Korea in November 1952.  He died the same day as his good friend Private Brian Castle and both their graves in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea and their memorial plaques in Kings Park are located next to each other.

Head was born in 1933 when his parents lived in Carlisle, Perth. He then attended school in Gosnells and worked as a carpenter in the that area just prior to enlisting in the army in May 1951.  He had a short stint as an apprentice bootmaker in 1949 but found travelling to the city from his home in Kenwick to be very difficult to sustain.[i]  Boot making as an occupation wasn’t the right fit for him.

In August 1951, Head was living at the Recruit Training Centre in Guildford, when he and his older brother, Charles, were fined for drinking offences.  Head was only 18 and had been caught drinking underage at a Gosnells hotel.  His older brother was fined with supplying him with the alcohol. [ii]  Head was too young to legally drink in 1951, but not too young to be sent overseas to a foreign nation to fight and to eventually lose his life there.

By November 1952 Head was married with a baby, also named Allan. He was also with the First Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, (1RAR), on Hill 355 in Korea. Hill 355 was also known as Little Gibraltar and was fiercely fought over as it looked out over the contested battle fields and supply lines. 1RAR had relieved Canadian troops on Hill 355 at the beginning of November.  On 17 November one of the patrols sent out engaged with an enemy patrol which resulted in three 1RAR soldiers being Killed in Action, including Head and his friend from Perth, Brian Castle.

Many years later Head's granddaughter's husband, a Major in the Australian Army and previous member of 1RAR, had the opportunity to visit Head's grave in the UN Memorial Cemetery in Korea. [iii] Head's family had not found any photos of him either.  The memorials in Korea and in Carlisle and Kings Park in Perth seem to be the only physical memories of this young West Australian who died in the Korean War. 

[i] His Only Excuse. The West Australian, 28 October 1949.p. 5.

[ii] Underage Drinkers. The West Australian.  21 September 1951. p.11.

[iii] Officer pays his respects to wife's grandfather. Army (National: 1980 - 2021), 21 September 2017, p. 15. Retrieved August 15, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article267394242


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