Walter Allason

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Walter Allason (25 October 1875 – 11 January 1960) was an English swimmer, diver, and senior British Army officer. Born in Paddington, London, he trained at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and began his career with the Manchester Regiment in 1894, later transferring to the Bedfordshire Regiment. He served in the Second Boer War and, after a period with the Foreign Office, returned to combat in the First World War on the Western Front. Wounded several times, he earned the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1915 and a Bar for the Somme in 1916. He commanded the 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment and, in 1918, was promoted to temporary brigadier-general to lead the 52nd Brigade of the 17th (Northern) Division. He retired from the Army in 1925 at the age of 50. Allason married Katharine Poland in 1908; they had a daughter, Dolores Celina, and a son, James Allason, who later became a Conservative politician and army officer. An accomplished diver and swimmer, he won several English diving championships between 1896 and 1922. He published Military Mapping and Reports in 1940. He died in London in 1960 at age 84.