First World War Medal Trio – Piper James Leckie McLean, 6th Bn. Cameron Highlanders
1914-15 Star – S-12070. PTE. J. MC LEAN, CAM’N. HIGHRS.
British War Medal – S-12070. PTE. J. MC LEAN. CAM’N. HIGHRS.
Victory Medal – S-12070. PTE. J. MC LEAN. CAM’N. HIGHRS.
The medals come with one of the man’s ID discs, as well as his 1914 Christmas tin and associated documents.
James Leckie McLean was born on 28th July 1887 at Girvan, Ayrshire, and was the son of Daniel McLean, who died in 1890, and his wife Isabella Leckie. He was brought up in Girvan and appears in the 1901 Census residing with his widowed mother at 164 Dalrymple Street, Girvan. In later life he continued to live in the town, his address being recorded as 3 Glendoune Street, Girvan. By trade he was employed as a cooper, a skilled occupation which he followed prior to his enlistment.
He had previous military experience, having served with the Volunteers, though he later resigned from that force. Following the outbreak of the Great War he enlisted on 3rd September 1914, aged 27, and joined the Cameron Highlanders. He was posted to the 6th Battalion, Cameron Highlanders, a battalion which was mobilised for overseas service. His service record confirms his battalion, and he is specifically recorded as serving as a Piper, a role confirmed by his inclusion in the book Pipes of War.
James McLean served with the 6th Battalion, Cameron Highlanders during its active operations on the Western Front, including the fighting at Loos in September 1915. Contemporary regimental accounts record that during trench fighting the pipers were generally employed behind the line, but during the Loos attack they played the battalion into action, suffering heavy casualties as a result. When the 44th Brigade was forced to fall back, the men are recorded as having rallied on an improvised flag of Cameron tartan, at the foot of which stood the pipers of several battalions, underscoring the symbolic and practical importance of the pipers in maintaining cohesion and morale under fire. As a battalion piper, James McLean would have taken part in these actions alongside his fellow pipers of the 6th Camerons.
He survived the Great War and returned to civilian life in Girvan. In 1921 he married Mary Sexton, and the couple raised a family in Ayrshire. James Leckie McLean died at Girvan on 7th March 1951, aged 63, his life encompassing skilled civilian work, prior Volunteer service, and active wartime service as a piper of the 6th Battalion, Cameron Highlanders.
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