Lieutenant-Colonel The Rev William H H McClelland MBE

The Rev. Canon William Hamilton Horace McClelland was born in County Armagh on 31 January 1930, and educated at The King's Hospital and Trinity College, Dublin. He played cricket and rugby, and was always keen on sport.

In 1951 he joined the Royal Army Chaplains Department of the British Army and served in Cyprus, Hong Kong and North Africa with many regiments including the Gurkhas, the Commandos, the 17th/21st Lancers and The Parachute Regiment, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.

He served as the 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment’s Padre from 1954 to 1956. During his time with the battalion he survived a bomb attack in Cyprus, on Wednesday, 20 June 1956, when he was in the lead vehicle escorting nineteen British soldiers who had been dealing with a forest fire.

He jumped at Suez in November 1956, attached to the 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment and later held a Service of Remembrance on the banks of the Suez Canal on Sunday, 11 November 1956.

In 1961, the Queen created him a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

In 1967 The Rev. Canon McClelland joined Shawnigan Lake School, serving as Chaplain, Assistant Headmaster and Headmaster.

The Rev. Canon McClelland died on 26 December 2011, just shy of his 92nd birthday. He is survived by his beloved wife of 44 years, Sheila, and numerous nieces and nephews.