William Neil Alexander McLean

Leading the salvage after fire, he helped preserve his ship.

William Neil McLean grew up in Calgary, Alberta, where he was born on 21 November 1920. Drawn to the navy as a boy, he joined the local sea cadets before travelling to Britain as a teenager to enter the Royal Navy. He trained at HMS St Vincent and later specialised in torpedo work.

His wartime naval service included minesweeping and service in HMS Valiant. He experienced operations in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean, including Norwegian operations, Malta convoys, Taranto and Cape Matapan. From 1941 he served with Combined Operations naval commandos. Their beach parties helped organise landings, remove obstructions and evacuate casualties. He returned to shipboard torpedo duties late in 1943.

After transferring to the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1946, McLean was released from full-time service in 1947 and returned to Calgary. He completed his interrupted schooling and studied at the University of Alberta, qualifying as a doctor in 1954. Alongside his studies he served with the Calgary Highlanders, subsequently joined the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, and then returned to the naval reserve as a medical officer.

McLean practised medicine in Calgary from 1956 until the end of his life. At HMCS Tecumseh he served as medical officer, undertook diving and naval control of shipping training, and reached the rank of surgeon commander. When fire struck Tecumseh in 1981, he led the initial salvage effort. He received the Order of Military Merit and retired from military service in 1985.

He married Kelsey Hale in 1960 and they raised four children. His interests included diving, aviation and the preservation of naval history through the Naval Museum of Alberta. He died in 1996. His ashes were committed to the sea from HMCS Calgary on 22 August 1997.