Folk Figure. Allen was a Ensign on board the PBM Martin Mariner that was part of the search for the 5 Avengers known as the infamous Flight 19 planes that disappeared in the area known as the Bermuda Triangle after taking off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on December 5, 1945. The 13 men on the PBM Martin Mariner waited a total of 19 hours before taking off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in hopes that Flight 19 would return. The plane later took off that evening and was never heard from again. It is believed that the plane exploded. It is another one of the Bermuda Triangle's great mysteries.∼Roger Murray Allen was born on 24 December 1919 in Lee County, North Carolina, the eldest child of William Lestro Allen (1893-1963) and Golda Phyllis "Gola" Oldham Allen (1895-1995). He was raised in Lee County and Chatham County, NC. The family later relocated to Sumter, SC. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy during WWII and was trained as a Naval aviator. Roger was one of several Naval personnel who were lost at sea under mysterious circumstances on 5 December 1945. On that day, Flight 19, a training mission consisting of five TBM Avengers departed from Fort Lauderdale, FL, carrying 14 crew members. After radio communications indicated that the flight leaders were lost and low on fuel, and later radio silence, a rescue flight of a Martin PBM-5 Mariner with a crew of 13, Training 49, was dispatched from Naval Air Station Banana River (later renamed Patrick Air Force Base), near Cocoa Beach, FL. Training 49 reportedly exploded mid-air about a half-hour after takeoff, though the wreckage was never found. Their crew was as follows:
• Walter G. Jeffery, Lt. JG, USN, Commander
• Harry G. Cone, Lt. JG, USN
• Roger M. Allen, Ensign, USN
• Lloyd A. Eliason, Ensign, USN
• Charles D. Arceneaux, Ensign, USN
• Robert C. Cameron, RM3, USN
• Wiley D. Cargill, Sr., Seaman 1st, USN
• James F. Jordon, ARM3, USN
• John T. Menendez, AOM3, USN
• Philip B. Neeman, Seaman 1st, USN
• James F. Osterheld, AOM3, USN
• Donald E. Peterson, AMM1, USN
• Alfred J. Zywicki, Seaman 1st, USN
A plaque commemorating the crew of Training 49 was erected at Patrick Air Force Base in 2017.