McLEAN, James (Aust in RN 237977)

Entrance to the Bucharest War Cemetery.

War grave of 237977 Leading Seaman James McLEAN

Full name:                      James McLEAN

Date of birth:                 1890

Place of birth:                St Nicholas, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Names of parents:                   James McLEAN and Margaret Helen MCLEAN  (nee BONNER)

Occupation prior to enlistment:        Unknown

Date enlisted:                 Unknown

Service:                Royal Navy

Next of kin:          James McLEAN and Margaret Helen MCLEAN

Date of death:                          3 January 1919

Cause of death:              Illness (believed to be the Spanish Flu)

Place of death:                         Romania

Unit at time of death:              HMS Mersey

Buried at:             Bucharest War Cemetery

Other information:

Third child of five children of James McLEAN and Margaret Helen MCLEAN.

It is not known if Able Seaman MCLEAN if migrated to Australia with his parents and then returned to the UK where he enlisted in the Royal Navy.

Wikipedia (25 Sep 2018) records:

Mersey had a relatively successful career in the First World War and had two prominent incidents. At the Battle of Yser in 1914, off the coast of Belgium, she bombarded German troops as well as artillery positions. In July 1915, she was towed to the Rufiji River delta (by Liverpool tugs HMS Blackcock, Sarah Joliffe and T A Joliffe, and from the Thames fleet Danube II, Southhampton and Revenger) in German East Africa, where she and Severn then assisted in the destruction of the German light cruiser Konisberg.

The monitor later went to the Mediterranean and served on the River Danube.

Five crewmen died between January 3 and January 6, 1919. They are buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Bucharest War Cemetery, Bucharest, Romania.

His parents were living at 6 Horsburg Grove, Malvern, Melbourne, at the time the CWGC gathered the family information.

The plaque recording the gift of the land by the Romanian people to commemorate the servicemen buried therein.
Headstone over the grave of Able Seaman James McLEAN; all the World War One burials have headstones of this type, whereas the World War Two burials have the tablet style headstone.
This images shows one of AB McLEAN’s shipmates, Petty Officer E. BULLEEN, who died on 2 January 1919.
On the right of AB McLEAN’s grave is shipmate Stoker 1st Class W. SPRAY.
Entry from the Australian War Memorial’s Commemorative Roll for AB J. McLEAN.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Grave Registration Report Form recording the names of the five sailors and one soldier who all died in the space of one week 31 December 1918 – 6 January 1919 whilst serving with the HMS Mersey as part of the Danube Flotilla.

Sources:

The Cemetery photographs shown here were taken by Victor Harbor RSL members Ian & Janet MILNES on 29 April 2018.

Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll of Honour ( https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1430228 )

Commonwealth War Graves Commission (https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/473339/mclean,-/ )