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...do YOUR families link back to first South Australian wheat growers?
Christina and Donald McLEAN from Scotland 1837
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 1903 - 1986 (82 years)
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| Name |
Gordon James b1903 JOHNSTON [1] |
| Military Service |
1939-45 |
Exmouth WA  |
| When the 1939-1945 war broke out Gordon was manpowered with Bell brothers, by which time he was a licenced Excavator Driver building airstrips in North Western Australia. He was there when the Broome raid took place and a Japanese Zero bombed the airstrip on which he was working. About this time at Pot Shot Airport, Exmouth Gulf, Gordon pulled Bluey Truscott still in his Spitfire from the ocean. This Spitfire is now in the Canberra War Memorial ACT |
| Born |
22 Aug 1903 |
Leonora WA [1] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Biography Notes |
c1920s |
North Perth WA [1] |
| Gordon started work in the 1920s as a Pastry Cook, living at Cowle Street. North Perth. He then moved with his family to Scadden (a farming district just north of Esperance) where they grew wheat, this was in 1931. He met and married Ruth Weller Long that year. They had two sons, Malcolm born at Esperance & Russell (Russ) born at Subiaco, Perth. |
| Occupation |
c1980s |
Perth WA |
| Maintenance Man...When employment with Bell Brothers terminated Gordon was employed by his eldest son Malcolm at his clothing factory in Perth as maintenance man and carrier until his retirement in the early 1980s. After spending some time in a hospital for the aged he passed away aged 82 years on 11/5/1986. |
| Occupation |
c1940s |
Collie WA [1] |
Truck driver...History: written by his younger son Russell.
Post war Bell Brothers sent Gordon to Collie, a coal mining town in south Western Australia where he worked on the Walls End open cut mine (the open cut at Collie) and the Black Diamond open cut. He then worked on many open cut mines in North Western Australia, mining for Manganese, Iron Ore and even Yellow Cake.
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| Occupation |
c1936 |
Guildford WA |
| About 1936 Gordon started employment with Bell Brothers, Guildford as a truck driver carting wheat (this was during the Depression years). |
- EPITAPH OF BLUEY TRUSCOTT....WWII 1943 and Gordon Johnston...
Squadron Leader Truscott was killed instantly at 1735 hours, 28th March 1943. Position, 22° 11' S., 114° 09' E. He was flying Kittyhawk A29/150.
Before any member of 76 Squadron could reach the scene whale-boats and divers from U.S.S. Chi/ds and U.S.S. Whipperwill were attempting to locate the wreckage. They continued dragging operations with a desperate urgency until midnight, under impossible conditions, long after all hope for the life of Keith Truscott had been adandoned. At last 76 Squadron had to ask the Americans to stop.
At light, 29th March, the search was resumed, and at 1000 hours the aircraft was located in thirty-six feet of water, lying on its back, with mainplanes folded and the cockpit on the sea-bed.
At 1630 hours the aircraft was raised, and lowered onto a barge. The body was recovered from the cockpit with some injuries, but virtually unmarked.
In the evening, after the barge pulled alongside the jetty, Bluey was carried ashore by the officers of his squadron. His mother, far away, knew he was dead before she was told.
At 0930 hours, 31st March, the casket containing his embalmed body, followed by of of No. 76 Squadron and of the U.S. Navy, was drawn to the air-strip and passed between his boys, whose emotions no words of mine dare express. He was brought to the Avro Anson and soon that aircraft drew away slowly and took off to the salute from the ground and the air. His pilots above him in the formation of a cross and escorted him to Perth, towards the Cathedral, to the limits of their fuel.
Thus passed Bluey Truscott, aged twenty-six, brave as few were and loved as few were.
Today he rests in the War Cemetery near Perth, Western Australia, and his first Spitfire stands quietly through the passing years in the Australian War Memorial at Canberra.
God Bless Bluey.
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| Occupation |
1950 |
Geraldton WA |
| In late 1950 Bell Brothers made Gordon Manager (still driving trucks) in the Geraldton & Meekatharra district where he met Patricia Thomas whom he married in 1960. She died in 1975. |
| Died |
11 May 1986 |
Perth WA [1] |
| Buried |
Karrakatta WA [1] |
| Person ID |
I-5689 |
Christina and Donald McLean | Ewen (Hugh the younger) McLean's descendants |
| Last Modified |
22 Feb 2018 |
| Father |
Mathew JOHNSTON, b. 20 Oct 1864, Bremer SA , d. 28 May 1936, Perth WA (Age 71 years) |
| Relationship |
-1863 |
| Mother |
Elizabeth Ann MCLEAN, b. 9 Dec 1874, Strathalbyn SA , d. 17 Nov 1948, Merredin WA (Age 73 years) |
| Relationship |
-1863 |
| Married |
17 Nov 1896 |
Strathalbyn SA [2] |
| Marriage/Wedding |
Adelaide Observer, 21st November 1896, p24 - MARRIAGES.
JOHNSTON-McLEAN: On the 17th November, at the residence of Mrs. Jefferis, Strathalbyn (the aunt of the bride), by the Rev. G. C. Love, B.D., Matthew Johnston, Kalgoorlie, W.A., son of Mr. Johnston, Woodchester, to Elizabeth Ann, daughter of Mr. Hugh McLean, Strathalbyn. |
| Family ID |
F-1863 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Photos |
 | At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.
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| Headstones |
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HS JOHNSTON; MATHEW father+Elizabeth Ann Mclean mother;4 yoa daughter MAY born c1908, d.7 Apr 1912 and wife of their son Gordon James Johnston; RUTH Weller LONG died 7 Sep 1933 (Ruths Husband=Gordon James Johnston who is son of Mathew and Elizabeth Johnston) |
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| Sources |
- [S-3] PUBLICATION BRB 'Donald & Christina McLean & Their Descendants', 1995 copies available, Copies of the BRB available Strathalbyn National Trust Museum & Library, several libraries around Australia including State Library SA, and Western Australian Genealogical Society Bayswater WA Request assistance for locating a copy through 'Contact us' on this website. .
- [S-75] BDM SA, https://www.genealogysa.org.au/index.php?option=com_search&Itemid=32, 16 Jun 2017 Researcher Lorna McLean.
Matthew JOHNSTON and Elizabeth Ann MCLEAN Marriage Date: 1896, November 17 Marriage Place: Res of Mrs Jefferis StrathalbynSA Groom Age: 31 Groom Approx. Birth Year: 1865 Groom Father: John JOHNSTON Bride Age: 20
Bride Approx. Birth Year: 1876 Bride Father Name: Hugh MCLEAN Book/Page: 189/525
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