MCLENNAN, Alan Keith
| Service Number: | WX7524 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 August 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Beaconsfield, Fremantle, Western Australia, 4 September 1915 |
| Home Town: | Fremantle, Fremantle, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Boat Builder |
| Died: | Mandurah, Western Australia, 1 March 1997, aged 81 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Fremantle Cemetery, Western Australia |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 6 Aug 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, WX7524 | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Jan 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX7524, 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion, embarked Fremantle for ME per Overseas Convoy 8 | |
| 11 Jan 1941: | Promoted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion | |
| 27 Jun 1942: | Imprisoned El Alamein, POW No: 130297 | |
| 24 Jul 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, WX7524, 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion, from AIF Transit Camp England for Sydney | |
| 8 Sep 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, WX7524 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Corporal Alan Keith McLennan (Service No:WX7524) enlisted in the AIF on 6 August 1940 as a Private attached to 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion. He embarked from Fremantle for the Middle East on 3 January 1941 and on 13 January was promoted to Corporal. In November 1941 he was described as 'A keen and enthusiastic NCO. Possesses a very pleasant manner and an appealing personality. Will become a good asset to his unit'. (National Archives Australia). Reported as Missing at El Alamein on 27 July 1942, Corporal McLennan was confirmed as a PoW (PoW No:130297) and held at Camp No 57 Italy from October 1942 to April 1943 ( Farm Labourer). On 8 September 1943, with others, Corporal McLennan escaped from Campo Laborare 106 and was assisted by civilians in Landiona Village near Arro, and served with the Partisans for three months. Recaptured by the Germans on 3 June 1944, he was interred at Stalag VIIIA and Stalag 383 in Germany before being Recovered on 17 May 1945. Corporal McLennan embarked from the AIF Transit Camp in England on 24 July 1945 for Sydney, and was Discharged on 8 September 1945.
Born in 1915 in Fremantle WA, Alan was the third of five children of John McLennan (b1866 in Mondrook, NSW) and Florence Edna Meyer(b1886 in Eudunda, South Australia). John (a Clerk) and Florence married in 1907 and settled in Fremantle WA where they raised their family and John worked as a Clerk for D & J Fowler Ltd until his death in 1919.
Alan was a Boat Builder in Fremantle WA when he enlisted in the AIF. in 1946 in Fremantle WA, Alan married Kathleen Isabel Sloan (nee Punch; b1914 in Fremantle, WA). Alan and Kathleen lived in Perth and Fremantle where they raised their family and Alan worked as a Carpenter before retiring to Mandurah. Kathleen died in 1996 and Alan in 1997.
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