' - Cliff Allen seated in what is likely a Reo. He carried a Luger Continued from Page 1. Security was either concealed or non-existent. "If they had anybody being a body guard for him, it was never mentioned," says Cliff. No RCMP travelled with the prime minister. However, there were RCMP officers at the Parliament Buildings, so to enable them to identify the car when approaching, it had a large maple leaf hood ornament. During the Second World War, Allen Sr. was a part-time driver for Mackenzie King. Allen was then working fulltime as a purchasing agent for the Langevin block of the Parliament Buildings and filled in when the other driver was sick. During this period he carried a Luger. Cliff remembers his father coming home late one evening and showing the gun to the family while they sat around the kitchen table. He also took his young son to the firing range in the basement of the Ottawa armories where he practised shooting, Prior to the war, Ottawa was visited by Emperor Hirohito of Japan. Allen chauffeured he and the prime minister about the capital. The young Allen sometimes rode with his father and Ben^ nett when they were going to the prime minister's retreat in Quebec. It was an exciting prospect for a boy of five. "Going for a car ride in those days, that was something," recalls Cliff. He always dressed in his best clothes and was instructed to look forward or to the sides but never in the back of the car for fear of disturbing the prime minister. On other occasions Allen would drive his son to school before going to work. The young Cliff felt he'd be teased by his peers so he slipped out of the car as quickly as possible. Although Allen Sr. was very closed-mouthed about each prime minister's traits, he says Bennett was more personable than King. When Bennett retired in 1935 after losing the election to King, he asked Allen to go with him to England and continue as his driver. However, storm clouds were brewing in Europe and Allen decided to stay in Canada. Because shipping his automobile across the Atlantic would be too expensive, Bennett gave the car to Allen. Ironically, the former prime minister's car sat in the Aliens' backyard on blocks for some time because gas was rationed during the war. In 1935 Bennett got Allen the job in the Langevin block. He stayed with that job until retiring to Bloomfield, Prince Edward County. He died in 1972.