MCLELLAN, Percy William
| Service Number: | 959 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 11 December 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 4th Light Horse Regiment |
| Born: | 1892, place not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Violet Town, Strathbogie, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Violet Town State School |
| Occupation: | Labourer/Drover |
| Died: | Sandringham, 1948, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Euroa Telegraph Park, Violet Town Honour Roll WW1, Violet Town Primary School Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 11 Dec 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Trooper, 959, 4th Light Horse Regiment | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 May 1915: | Involvement Private, 959, 4th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '2' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Palermo embarkation_ship_number: A56 public_note: '' | |
| 7 May 1915: | Embarked Private, 959, 4th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Palermo, Melbourne |
Help us honour Percy William McLellan's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography
McLELLAN Percy William 959 PTE
4th Light Horse Regiment
1892-1948
Percy was the second son of James and Jane McLellan and the younger brother of Daniel Thomas. Percy enlisted on 11 December 1914 just a few months after Dan. They were not in the same Light Horse Regiment so their chances of meeting while overseas were slight.
Percy embarked from Melbourne on 7 May on Palermo bound for Alexandria. Owing to the rough terrain on Gallipoli mounted units were not used as such but were deployed as reinforcements to the scattered battalions. Percy was part of the 5th reinforcements which landed on 7 August 1915.
The following month he succumbed to dysentery which was rife in the trenches due to rotting corpses, inadequate latrines and the resulting flies. A month later he was shipped per Hospital Ship Gascon to Malta then Gibraltar and finally on 31 October he was admitted to the 2nd Southern General Hospital at Bristol. There was a notice to this effect in the Violet Town Sentinel dated 9 November reporting that ‘Mr J McLellan of Violet town received word on Monday that his son Pte Percy McLellan was ill and had been sent to Bristol, England.’
On 29 February 1916 he was deemed unfit for active service and was shipped back to Australia aboard Star of Victoria. In the Violet Town Sentinel dated 7 March there was an article stating that ‘Pte P McLellan, son of Mr J McLellan, Violet Town, who was injured by a shell case at Gallipoli returned to Violet Town on Thursday last, and has received a warm welcome from his many friends.’
He was discharged on 15 May 1916.
In 1920 Percy married Dorothy Gladys Harding. He joined the permanent artillery at Queenscliff about 1924 and they lived at Thanet Terrace, Queenscliff. A daughter Margaret had been born in 1922 followed by a son Robert six years later who died in infancy. Percy had a brief posting to Albury as a Military Patrolman in 1936. By 1937 he had retired and the little family moved to Sandringham
Margaret died in 1941, followed by her father in 1961.
Service Medals: 1914-15 Star British War medal Victory Medal
Honour Rolls: Main Honour Board, Memorial Hall, Violet Town
MUIOOF Honour Roll
St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church
Violet Town State School
Copper Plaque – now affixed to wall of Memorial Hall, Violet Town
There was a second Memorial Avenue planted in 1918 and trees were planted by the citizens of Violet Town but it is not known where or by whom. Percy’s tree was among these.
© 2016 Sheila Burnell