In September 1939, Allan, traveling with his fiancee, American actress Judith Evelyn, was a survivor of the torpedoing of the SS Athenia.
On September 3, 1939, together with her fiancé, Canadian radio producer Andrew Allan, Evelyn survived the sinking of the Anchor-Donaldson liner SS Athenia.
He boarded SS Athenia to cross the Atlantic on his return trip in September 1939 and was one of the survivors when it became the first British ship to be sunk by the Germans after Britain declared war.
He was aboard the SS Athenia when it was torpedoed on September 3, 1939 and survived.