Allan “Cap” McLellan was born on March 28, 1904 in Southampton, Ontario, the son of Captain Alex McLellan and Mary McLellan, of 286 South Vidal Street, Sarnia. Allan was a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Parish, Sarnia. Allan McLellan resided in Sarnia for 40 years. In his younger days he was an outstanding softball and soccer player and was also prominent in other forms of athletics. He was employed by Imperial Oil Limited and prior to entering the Merchant Navy at the beginning of the war, was employed as a clerk in the Ontario Liquor Control Board store on Front Street, Sarnia. After serving for some time in the Merchant Navy, Allan transferred to the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve. His division was the HMCS Stadacona, and Allan attained the rank of able seaman.

The Stadacona was originally a 682 ton, 196 foot yacht named SS Columbia, launched in 1899. It was commissioned by the RCN in August 1915, and renamed the HMCS Stadacona. The Stadacona was one of several private yachts acquired by the RCN during the First World War, its role that of a patrol vessel based out of Halifax. It was sold in 1924, ending its RCN naval duties. The Royal Canadian Navy Maritime Command base in Halifax, Nova Scotia became the HMCS Stadacona in 1925. During World War II, this RCN shore establishment served as a depot and training base, with machine shops, stores buildings, barracks, administration offices and drill halls needed to maintain the hundreds of corvettes being commissioned during the Battle of the Atlantic. The HMCS Stadacona is where Allan McLellan was listed as serving.

Two years after the end of war in Europe, on May 23, 1947, at the age of forty-three, Allan McLellan would lose his life at the Queen Alexander Sanitarium in Byron. He entered the sanitarium on discharge from the navy and had been confined there most of the time since. His cause of death was officially listed as, Far advanced pulmonary tuberculosis due to left broncho pleural fistula with pyoneumothorax. Death due to service. Besides his parents, he was survived by his three brothers–Harold, John and Arnold–and two sisters: Mrs. Beatrice Birmingham of Sarnia and Mrs. Kenneth Haines (Ada) of Talara, Peru. His funeral was held on May 27, 1947 taking place from the McKenzie & Blundy Funeral Home with a Requiem High Mass celebrated at St. Joseph’s Church. Pallbearers were members of Sarnia Branch No. 62 Canadian Legion. Internment was at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery, Sarnia, Ontario, Lot 11, Range 6, Grave D. On Allan McLellan’s headstone are inscribed the words, Beloved son of Alex and Mary McLellan.

SOURCES: C, D, E, F, L, N, T, U, X, 2C, 2D