William Wilson Allen, VC (c. 1843 – 12 March 1890) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC) for his actions at the Battle of Rorke's Drift in January 1879, the highest and most prestigious award for valour in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
On 22 and 23 January 1879 at Rorke's Drift, Natal, South Africa, Corporal Allen and another man (Frederick Hitch) kept communication with the hospital open, despite being severely wounded. Their determined conduct enabled the patients to be withdrawn from the hospital, and when incapacitated by their wounds from fighting, they continued, as soon as their wounds were dressed, to serve out ammunition to their comrades during the night.[1]
Allen died of pneumonia in the 1889–1890 flu pandemic on 12 March 1890 at 85 Monnow Street, Monmouth at the age of 46. His body was buried at Monmouth Cemetery, Monmouthshire, with the cost of the grave and the headstone being provisioned by the South Wales Borderers Regiment.[2][3] A posthumous charity fund was set up to assist his family, his wife, Sarah Ann and his seven children.[4]