Roderick R. Allen

Roderick Random Allen  (January 29, 1894 - February 1, 1970) was a Major General in the United States Army, who commanded the 20th and 12th Armored Divisions during World War II.

Early life
Roderick Random Allen was born on 29 January 1894 as a son of Jefferson Buffington and Emma Allen in the city of Marshall, Texas. He attended the Texas A&M University and earned his Bachelor of Science in 1915. Subsequently he entered the army, and in 1916 he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant with the 16th Cavalry Regiment.

Following the entry of US into the World War, Allen was sent with American Expeditionary Forces under command of general John J. Pershing to the Europe and served there until July 1919.

After return to the US with the rank of captain, he attended Cavalry school at Fort Riley, Kansas and then Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth. Allen was then appointed a battalion commander of the 32nd Armor Regiment.

After some time, Allen was transferred back to the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, where he was appointed as an instructor. After two years at Fort Leavenworth Staff School, Allen was detached to Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and then to Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

His next post was a position in Chief of Staff office at War Department in Washington, D.C., where he served until July, 1940. In this capacity, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant colonel on August 1, 1938.

Second World War
Then he was appointed an operations officer of the 1st Armored Regiment, located at Fort Knox, Kentucky. In April of the following year, he was assigned to the 3rd Armored Division at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana.

On October 14, 1941 Allen was promoted again, to the rank of Colonel and was appointed a commanding officer of the 32nd Armor Regiment. He spent in this capacity just two months and then was transferred to the 6th Armored Division under command of Major General William H. H. Morris, Jr. and became his chief of staff.

On April of the year 1942, Allen was transferred to the 4th Armored Division and was appointed a commander of the Combat Command A. Subsequently, on May 23, 1942, Allen was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General, Army of the United States. With his Combat Command A, Allen participated in the several maneuvers including Tennessee (1942) and California (1942–43).

At the end of January, 1943, Allen received a temporary rank of Major General and in October of the same year, he was transferred to the recently created 20th Armored Division at Fort Campbell, where he was appointed Commanding officer of the division. Allen stayed in the command until the end of September, 1944 in United States and subsequently was transferred to the 12th Armored Division.

Major General Allen assumed the command of freshly incoming 12th Armored Division, which was sent from United States to Liverpool to reinforce US forces in Europe. Allen succeeded Major General Douglass T. Greene in command of the division.

Postwar Life
Major general Roderick R. Allen retired from the Army on May 31, 1954 and lived in Washington, D.C., where he died at the age of 76 on February 1, 1970. He is buried together with his wife, Maydelle Campbell Allen (1891-1967) at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.

Decorations
Major General Allen´s ribbon bar: