Date:	Thursday 18 April 1912
Time:
Type:	Bleriot XI
Owner/operator:	Damer Leslie Allen
Registration:	Unregistered
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Irish Sea, West of Anglsey, Wales -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Holyhead, Anglesey, Wales
Destination airport:	Dublin, Ireland
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Damer Leslie Allen was an Irish-born early twentieth-century aviator. He disappeared on 18 April 1912, while attempting to fly from Holyhead, Wales, to Ireland in a Blériot XI monoplane. He had initially set off from Hendon Aerodrome, together with his friend and fellow pilot, Denys Corbett Wilson, who successfully completed his flight to Ireland, the first complete flight between Great Britain and Ireland, on 22 April, 1912. Although it was reported that their flights were the result of a wager between the two men, this was subsequently denied.

The following week, on 26 April, Vivian Hewitt successfully completed a flight between Holyhead and Dublin, landing in the Phoenix Park. Interviewed by the press, he expressed the view that Allen had been insufficiently experienced as an aviator for a flight of such difficulty.

On 24 June 1912, the High Court in London made an order that Allen should be presumed to have died on or after 18 April 1912. A consulting engineer by profession, Allen left an estate valued at £6,923 15s 8d. At the time of his death, Allen was being sued in the English courts for the recovery of a portrait of Lady Anne Ponsonby by Thomas Gainsborough, which he had sold at Christie's for 8,300 guineas (£8,715).

On 11 February 1913, after a seven-day trial, the jury returned a verdict for the defendants, including the executors of Allen's will.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damer_Leslie_Allen
2. https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1912/1912%20-%200379.html
3. http://www.sloughhistoryonline.org.uk/asset_arena/image/original/sl/ol/sl-ol-slough_chronicle26041912001710-e-00-000.jpg
4. Missing Aviator's Death Presumed: Allen's Attempt to Cross Irish Sea". Irish Times. Dublin. 25 June 1912. p. 8.
5. Action to Recover a Gainsborough: Missing Irish Family Portrait: Interesting Case from County Carlow – Air Tragedy Recalled". Irish Times. Dublin. 4 February 1913. p. 5.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Mar-2008 10:48	Bleiente	Added
06-Feb-2017 16:28	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Date, Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
26-Nov-2018 17:12	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type]