Elkhorn author focuses on uncle’s service in Second World War

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This article was published 22/03/2018 (3010 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Too many military movies and documentaries were neglecting the Canadian experience, Fred McLean felt.

“My wife finally said, ‘If you’re getting mad anyways, why don’t you do something about it yourself?’” he remembered, “and so I did.”

The end result: a screenplay reciting the tale of an underdog troupe of Canadian heroes with permission to retreat from an overwhelming effort in the Second World War. They chose otherwise.

The Elkhorn foster parent and support worker recounts these events in his new screenplay-turned-book, Hargrave to the Hitler Line: The Canadian 5th Armoured in Italy.

It’s a local story, following Fred’s gregarious uncle, George Fred McLean, better known as Bud to those he knew. Other local men, including Albert Douglas Bickerton and Tilden Nylin, who both hailed from Elkhorn, are cited in the book as well.

Bud McLean grew up in Hargrave, a small community off the Trans-Canada Highway northwest of Virden. He came of age under the backdrop of the Second World War conflict.

He joined the military as a member of the Lord Strathcona’s Horse.

His experience in the tank regiment was short-lived, his nephew shared.

“Much to his chagrin, he found out he was in fact claustrophobic when he went on his first tank ride and actually ended up vomiting.”

Crestfallen, Bud McLean was transferred to another branch of the regiment where he supported the work of the tanks outside their armoured facade. When new tanks started to be used, McLean could again work inside; the removed turret permitting McLean to breathe, muzzling his claustrophobia.

They worked as a reconnaissance troop, gathering intel of the scene before them.

The group is most recognized for securing the bridgehead, a position inside enemy territory, in the south of Italy on May 24, 1944. They got to the river and built a ramp from earth and stones to move their tanks across.

Free to abandon their mission, 13 Strathconas, including McLean, chose to stay put. Outmanned and outgunned, they waited to be reinforced while under heavy artillery.

“They were vastly outnumbered,” Fred McLean said, “but one thing that worked in their favour was the Germans didn’t know how weak their position was.”

Numerous bravery commendations and medals were awarded for the men’s involvement in the Battle for the Melfa River. Bud was recognized with a Military Medal for his efforts at Misano Ridge later in the war.

In a story told through dialogue, the screenplay traces the path McLean and his colleagues took in the Italian Campaign, Canada’s first major ground participation in the Second World War. More than 26,000 Canadians died in the action.

Fred was encouraged to write about his uncle, who died in Calgary in 2016 at the age of 93, by Bud’s son, Lt. Col. Grant McLean, since retired from a long military career.

“The more I looked into it, the more I thought it was a story that needed to be told, needed to be shared,” Fred said.

Seven years ago, he began researching. He combed through books and websites, interviewed his uncle and other veterans and travelled to Italy.

He wrote when he could, and in a busy foster home that meant when the kids were tuckered out.

He sat on the screenplay for a few years before publishing.

Early reception has been positive. Close to 100 people took in his book launch March 9 at the abandoned Hargrave School, where he sold dozens of copies. He’s in the midst of booking another print run.

McLean came by his writing talents honestly; he taught himself.

His debut was a full-length play on a childless man who resorts to cloning to have a child, which premiered at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival in 2002 and was a critical darling. It garnered reviews of four stars out of five.

He dabbled in writing a short story after that, and next pursued this book in the form of his screenplay.

McLean is proud of his latest published effort, and pleased he kept at it when the going got tough. Whenever he questioned his next plot point, or whether he should keep writing at all, he went for a smoke on his back deck.

He’d see a Canadian flag, flapping in the wind of his neighbour’s yard. It made him think of the soldiers that came before.

“I couldn’t quit because these guys never did.”

McLean’s book is currently available for purchase at Flower Attic and Gifts in Virden. It can also be bought online, through numerous retailers including Amazon.

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