Maxwell Stuart McLellan

Born in 1921, Max was just 19 years old when WW II started and it is believed that he enlisted very early in the war effort. Max was one of nine children David Gilchrist McLellan and Isabelle Keith raised at 253 Mill St. East in Acton. Max had five sisters and three brothers all of whom enlisted in WW2 (Gordon who died in WW2, John and George) His youngest sister Helen was only 10 years old when Max enlisted and she missed him desperately while he was gone. Max wouldn’t see Helen again until he was discharged in 1945.

Helen wrote Max letters all the time he was away fighting the war, and to be creative, one time she wrote him a letter that went around and around the edges of the paper, all the way to the middle. Max was always happy to receive Helen’s letters, but this was a tough one to read. Good brother that he was, Max sat crouched under the headlights of a jeep and read the whole letter. Around and around, turning the paper as he went, Helen’s writing getting tinier and tinier as it got to the middle…her girlish meanderings tiring his eyes, but warming his heart.

Max served overseas with the army. He was discharged in 1945 and arrived home, marching into Toronto with his regiment. Max’s family were there to greet him, anxiously awaiting his arrival. George, Max’s older brother and Helen, his youngest sister were particularly excited to see their brother after six long years. When the moment finally came and Max was free to go, George and Helen both raced to greet him, each of them wanting to be the first one there! Helen was fast, but George was faster and leapt one of the barriers to secure his win. Max was just as happy to see them and couldn’t believe that little ten-year-old Helen that he had left so many years ago, had grown into a 16-year-old young lady.

After the war, Max worked at Firestone Tires in Hamilton. On March 20, 1948 he married Gwendolyn Audrey Jones and together they raised three children: Linda, Gordon and Melody. Max died at the age of 54 on November 9, 1975.

Truly a Canadian Hero. His story lives on. *Submitted to Homes of Heroes Halton Hills by Marie Jocque South, Max’s niece.

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