Allan joined Reuters News Agency in 1962 as a trainee and travelled the world. Between 1969 and 1971 he reported on the war in Vietnam. He worked closely with the Americans and was able to observe many aspects of the war.
Allan was born in London in 1931. The Second World War broke out just before he was about to start school. He was living on the outskirts of London and was never far from the sights and sounds of the war.
‘We use to see and hear the lights in the sky of the Blitz in London…’
Before Allan went to Cambridge University, he did his National Service and was posted to Cyprus and Egypt. After he finished his degree, Allan worked in Peru for three years for a company that ran the railways.
‘The casualties and fatalities were much worse among the television crews than among the word journalists…’
When he returned from Peru Allan responded to an advert in a newspaper for a job with Reuters. He joined as a trainee in 1962 and spent the next two years in Brazil.
In 1969 Allan was sent to Vietnam to cover the war. He was based in Saigon and the start of his time in Vietnam was eventful.
‘I had a pretty sharp start, I think the day after I got to Saigon…there was report of a Viet Cong attack on a South Vietnamese military base outside Saigon…that was quite an astonishing sight because there was about…150 dead bodies…’
And it was very hectic. He had to work every day for three months before he was allowed time off but he just had to continue reporting.
‘The adrenaline was up and one got on with it…’
Reporting the war was dangerous and two Reuters correspondents were killed in an ambush just before Allan arrived in Vietnam. But there were higher casualties amongst television crews.
‘The casualties and fatalities were much worse among the television crews than among the word journalists, because we could crouch down behind a wall and write our report. To get their story they had to stand up to film it…’
Allan believed that the film reports had an important role in ending the war.
‘I think that’s what ended it because it was the first time that the American public had seen body bags coming back…it came right into their sitting rooms…’
Allan worked closely with American troops and he believed that their tactics were not suited to the war they were fighting with the Viet Cong.
‘A few divisions of Gurkhas would have done a lot better than all this huge military infrastructure…’
Allan left Vietnam in late 1971 and went on to report on the conflict in Cambodia and the Portuguese Revolution. He left Reuters in 1990 after twenty eight years of service.
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