Harold Oliver Allensworth was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on June 29, 1925. His parents were Oliver Armstrong Allensworth (14 Nov 1898 – 21 Apr 1989) and Ara Velma (Cheek) Allensworth (9 Dec 1907 – 8 Dec 1987), who were married at McClain County, Oklahoma, on October 12, 1923. He had a younger brother, Bill Allensworth (abt 1931 – unk). By April 1940 the family lived at 5910 Schuler Street, Houston, Harris County, Texas, and his father worked as a welder. He completed four years of high school and was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Houston, Texas on August 10, 1943. His home of record was 326 Bob Street, Houston, Texas, his mother's address in 1944.

He completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery training, and was assigned as Ball Turret Gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Norman E. Gross in the 838th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. This Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe. Sgt Allensworth was assigned to the Gross crew after the crew arrived in England in mid-April 1944.

In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, the 487th Bomb Group dispatched two Squadrons on the first of three missions that the Group flew on D-Day. The Gross crew flew B-24H 42-52629 'Sweatin' It Out' on this mission. The 487th Bomb Group was assigned to bomb a choke point—a road junction—in Caen, France to disrupt German transportation. The Group's assembly in the dark over England took five hours, much longer than planned. Then a complete undercast prevented the crews from bombing the target. On the return, the entire heavy bomber force was routed away from the Allied shipping area, to the west of the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey. Sgt Allensworth and his nine crew mates went missing in action when their aircraft ran out of fuel and went down in the English Channel. A station at Saffron Walden, England, received a distress call from the crew at 0842, which indicated that the aircraft was about 35 miles northwest of the Cherbourg Peninsula, and all four engines were dead. The aircraft's last reported position was 49°52'N, 02°38'W, some 20 to 25 miles northwest of the Channel Island of Alderney. Other crews almost ran out of fuel before landing at bases near the English coast.

The remains of Flight Officer Levine, the bombardier, were found by the crew of the British ship HSL 192 (High Speed Launch 192) and were buried at sea, in the English Channel, on July 3, 1944. None of the other crew members was ever found.

Sgt Allensworth is memorialized along with his five enlisted crew mates on the Wall of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. The four officers are memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery near Madingley, England.

B-24H 42-52629 crew:
• Gross, Norman E – 1/Lt – Pilot – MIA
• Haskell, Willard D – 2/Lt – Copilot – MIA
• Moke, Francis E – 2/Lt – Navigator – MIA
• Levine, Milton – F/O – Bombardier – Buried at Sea
• Huebel Jr, Benjamin A – S/Sgt – Engineer – MIA
• Markowitz, Max I – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – MIA
• McWilliams, Charles A – Sgt – Nose Gunner – MIA
• Benson, Stanley J – Sgt – Top Gunner – MIA
• Allensworth, Harold O – Sgt – Ball Gunner – MIA
• Westhoff Jr, Henry B – S/Sgt – Tail Gunner – MIA

Source of information: www.findagrave.com