Allanson Hick

Allanson Hick FRIBA RSMA SGA was an architect and artist and the architect who drew up the plans for the Patrol OB. He was also a very good marine artist. His plan of the OB was marked "Home Guard S.P" and is still in the ownership of the relatives of Intelligence Officer Peter Hollis.

Allanson Hick was transferred out of Auxiliary Units early in the war and with his artistic skills was put to use by the army. He had applied for a position as an official war artist which was denied but he was allowed to draw anywhere within the Humber defences.

Enlisting under age he was a WW1 veteran, he enlisted in 10th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment from 16th March 1915 and saw service in the Near East and the Western Front. He was later transferred to the Army Pay Corps due to arthritis in his knee.

Born at 89 Walton Street, Hull, his family were all seafarers. In 1930 he joined Dudley Harbron in practice and they formed the firm Harbron & Hick in Gorge Street, Hull. The Architects' Journal in 1953 described him as "A large man. Blunt and jovial and with great enthusiasm. He is a good and witty speaker, save perhaps for the chip which he tends to carry on his shoulder".