Full name was Henry William Allan Deacon, who when in F2 appeared as just Allan Deacon, but raced for many years as HWA Deacon in the 1950's and 1960's, often in a Doretti car. He was also a former Lister-Jaguar driver and he bought a F3 Brabham from FIRST at the end of 1967, and then fitted a 1600cc Ford twin cam engine for Formula Libre racing. He also drove it at the Thruxton F2 race in April 1968, but unfortunately was black-flagged for dropping oil. He returned to racing Formula Libre races and won a race at Snetterton in June 1968. But Deacon wasn't best remembered as a racing driver, but as a pilot. He was awarded the MBE in the New Year Honours in 1988 for his service to Short's as a test pilot and served in the RAF as a 2nd Lieutenant, as well as serving in the Royal Navy. He won the Empire Test Pilot's School 1961 Hawker Hunter Trophy for the best Preview Handling report on the course. Sadly though, he lost his life in 1990 when he had to eject from his stricken plane - the tail came off the plane he was testing for the Kenyan Air Force - and although he survived the crash, he drowned in the North Sea before help could reach him. He was the son of another pilot, HW Deacon, who won the Distinguished Flying Cross and was a captain in the Royal Artillery.

Biography last updated 2 Jan 2016