MCLEAN, Alexander
| Service Number: | 3202 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 21st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, 1870 |
| Home Town: | Geelong, Greater Geelong, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Painter |
| Died: | 15 June 1939, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Geelong Operative Painters & Decorators Union of Australasia Sub Branch Honor Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 3202, 21st Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Wiltshire embarkation_ship_number: A18 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 3202, 21st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Wiltshire, Melbourne |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Two sons killed in action at Fromelles.
3202 Private Alexander Mclean 60th Battalion AIF of Geelong Victoria enlisted alongside his two sons when he was 45 years of age. The boys, 3200 Private Alexander McLean and 3209 Private Victor Henry Mclean were also both in the 60th Battalion aged 18 and 21 respectively. All three left Australia in the same unit and same ship during November 1915, and all three were part of the disaster which befell the 60th Battalion at Fromelles in July 1916. Both sons were killed in action on the 19 July 1916, taking part in the charge. Nothing was ever found of their bodies, and in the Red Cross files 1593 Private A Wyatt stated that “A. McLean and V. McLean are brothers. They were both killed the same day. They have a father who is in the Bn also: he knows they are both dead.”
In the NAA file of Victor Henry McLean, a survivor stated “I knew McLean personally and saw him dead on the evening of 20th July in No-Man's-Land, Fleurbaix. He was lying in a Sap. It looked as though he had been crawling back, and had got mortally wounded before getting back. He was in the Charge.”
Both brothers are remembered on Panel 21 of the VC Corner Australian Cemetery Memorial, Fromelles, France.
The boys’ father 3202 Private Alexander McLean 60th Bn, was also reported missing 19 July 1916, later confirmed still with unit, seemingly confused with his own sons. On August 30 1917, Thomas Trumble the Acting Secretary of the Department of Defence, forwarded this letter to AIF HQ.
“The following copy of a communication which has been received in this Department is referred to you for consideration and favor of report please: - “Excuse the liberty I am taking in writing to you. I will state my case and leave it for you to judge. It is now close on two years since my husband and two sons enlisted. They sailed together and were in the same Battalion up till the 19 July of last year, in which I lost my sons, one missing and the other killed. My husband has never been the same in health since that awful day and after being in the trenches last year. He has been before 4 or 5 boards and marked unfit, still they keep him there, although he has been put at H.Q. carrying letters etc. I think he has done his bit, and after losing two good sons as Captain Kerr says whom any mother can be proud of, I wish to ask you if you can do anything for me in returning him before another winter sets in, he now being unfit. His age was 47 last month. Late of the 60th Battalion, now No.3202 Private A. McLean with HDQ, 3rd Division AIF, abroad.”
The father, Private Alexander McLean was promptly returned to Australia in December 1917, his file stamped “family reasons”.