Shirley Allen obituary Shirley Allen during the second world war. He served as a flash spotter in the 3rd survey regiment of the Royal Artillery in Egypt, Sicily and Italy Shirley Allen during the second world war. He served as a flash spotter in the 3rd survey regiment of the Royal Artillery in Egypt, Sicily and Italy ChrisAllen Tue 22 Dec 2020 13.10 EST Last modified on Fri 12 Mar 2021 13.36 EST My father, Shirley Allen, who has died aged 98, was a former eighth army veteran who served as a flash spotter in the 3rd survey regiment of the Royal Artillery in Egypt, Sicily and Italy. Later he returned to Monte Cassino, the site of a long and hard-fought battle outside Rome, and talked about his wartime experiences to schoolchildren, becoming a parent governor of Lostock Hall school in Lancashire, which I attended with my younger sister.