Feb 2022
I never met Stanley; never saw his face, heard his voice, knew his story.
My discovery of Stanley began over a hundred years ago, in 1918 with the death of my grandfather, Patrick Downey. I never had the chance to meet him face to face either, to hear his voice, or know his story, because he died on September 29,1918, in France. That single moment had profound consequences; it changed our family history forever by separating my mother and her sister not just from their father, but by setting in motion a chain of events that also separated them from their mother and extended family members, for always.
Drummond Cemetery, Raillencourt (where Patrick is buried)
I took up genealogy after my parents died. The building of a family tree is not just about names and dates and places. It is about stories; about finding out who your ancestors were as people, and the time in history in which they lived. My mother's birth record had given me the starting point for the journey.
Birth record for Lillian Catherine Downey, my mother
I found out that my mom had an Uncle Charles Rudolph, who signed up to go to war with my grandfather Patrick. They were friends, and related by marriage, but got separated overseas being assigned to different battalions. Charles returned home in 1919 to learn that Patrick had perished in the last 100 days of the War. Charles had a daughter Rosena, and had Patrick survived, my mom would have known her first cousin. In that case, when Rosena married Stanley McLean in the later 1940's, my mom may have sent her best wishes from Ontario, where my parents were living having left the Maritimes in 1943.
Patrick Downey, below
My research on Granduncle Charles's family revealed that I had not found a death date for Stanley McLean. I decided to see if there was any new information online which could provide it. A Google search brought up a Facebook link to a group dedicated to black and white photos of Halifax. A member of the group had, in May 2021, posted a set of photos related to a Corporal Stanley McLean, whose wife was Rosena Rudolph. In her post she wrote that she had been cleaning out an apartment and come across a 'box of memories' about Stanley. She posted it on the group's page in hope of re-uniting them with a member of Stanley's family. In this unique way I met my mom's cousin Stanley, and felt that perhaps I could be a voice to remember him.
Stanley's parents were Malcolm McLean and Annie Flavin. Malcolm worked in the coal mines in Sydney Mines for 50 years, according to his death record, starting at 16 years old. They had at least five children; one girl and four boys, the youngest of which was Stanley. It was a Roman Catholic home and Malcolm and Annie had their family just prior to, and during, the First World War. Sydney Mines, at the turn of the century, might have been described as 'a company town' as the coal mining company was the sole employer. The company provided tenement housing, low wages and a company store.
The First World War was just ending, and sent surviving soldiers home with the Spanish Flu causing a world-wide pandemic. Between Aug.1918 and Dec.1919 the area of the mines in Cape Breton had the second highest numbers of deaths in the province. Public Health was only beginning to be recognized by the Federal Government and there were still outbreaks of cholera and typhoid in the country. In 1900 infant mortality was 1 in 5, and pneumonia, tuberculosis and diarrhea-enteritis-diphtheria, the three leading cause of death, 40% being children under five.
The coal produced was also being used to manufacture steel in the new steel mill, which then became the second employer in Sydney Mines. Conditions for workers were desperate. They were represented by a union which, with company owners, in 1925, announced a 20% reduction to their already inadequate wages, and cut off credit at the company store. This result in a violent strike.
Stanley was born on August 22, 1919 in Sydney Mines. This mining town was the setting for Stanley and his siblings, childhood. Stanley's mother, Annie, died in the summer of 1940, having lived just long enough to see her oldest son John get married that June in the midst of the second War War.
In April 1941, Stanley signed up to go to war. On Jun 9, 1941, his brother Richard signed up too. Richard had no formal schooling so could not sign his name to the attestation form, only put an 'x', his mark. He had been working in the mines since he was 16 according to his records. The army accepted him, put him to work, and began to teach him the rudiments of reading and writing. He saw action during the Liberation of Holland where on May 1st 1945 he was killed in action. His final resting place is Holten Canadian Military Cemetery in Holten, Holland, now was the Netherlands. (The newspaper states that he was killed in Germany, which was probably assumed at the time due to lack of information.)
Amongst all the official documents in Richard's war record there was a particularly poignant letter written March 19, 1948. The writer asked that the letter be forwarded to the family of Pte R McLean so that they would know that someone in Holland would be caring for the grave marker of their loved one. I hope that the family was notified and that it was a comfort to know that someone cared enough to visit and tend Richard's grave in their stead.
Wed Sept 17, 2025
Today the Service Record that I ordered in 2022, arrived, so now I can finish Stanley's story.
These photocopied photos were in the file. I am going to guess that the one on the left reflects the boy with the 8th grade education, reflects the new recruit, and the other one the man who has seen action overseas.
Stanley's attestation form, dated April 1, 1941, in Dartmouth, assigns him the Regimental #45740, and attaches him to the Pictou Highlanders, A F (Active Force). The birthdate does not match his birth record and varies frequently throughout his service record. His actual birthdate is 22 Aug 1919.
He is registered as Stanislaus, but this is the only record on which this name is used.
A Personnel Selection Record from Feb 1943 gives some personal information about Stanley. 'He was born in Sydney Mines, and is single. His father is a coal miner and he has 3 brothers, 1 in the army, and 1 sister. He enjoys hockey, baseball and swimming. He likes old-time music and plays Spanish guitar. He smokes a lot and drinks a little'. Because Stanley had no special skills, he was allocated as non-tradesman, and trained as a rifleman.
It appears that Stanley did basic and advanced training in Dartmouth and Halifax in 1942. He also has his appendix out and recovered in Halifax Military Hospital, which may have been Camp Hill. From Feb. to July 1943, Stanley was in Gander, NL and then was transferred to Debert, NS. It is unclear what Stanley was doing during this time, but I get the impression that he might have been bored because there are several notations of him being absent without leave. Perhaps being back in NS made it tempting to visit home. December 1943 sees Stanley arrive in the UK and then see active service in France, Italy and Holland with the West Nova Scotia Regiment. The service record is not specific as to locations, but the WNSR are documented to be in Italy for the Battle of the Liri Valley, the Hitler Line, and the Gothic Line, later ending up in Apeldoorn in the final advance through Holland in 1945. The cost to the regiment was high, particularly during the attempt to break the Hitler Line in the Italian campaign. You can imagine the effect it probably had on a rural Nova Scotian young man, not yet 25, who had spent less than half of his service in Canada and the UK.
When Stanley returned to Canada, he found that his brother Richard had died during the Liberation of Holland, and was buried there. He learned that his sister-in-law, Violet, had recently died, leaving his brother John with 3 small children. Interestingly, John and Violet had a son shortly after his brothers attested, and they named him Richard Stanley, clearly to remember his brothers now at war. Stanley's sister Sadie had added several children to her family during the war years, and she also had boys named Richard and Stanley. Stanley's father was still living on Crescent St in Sydney Mines and working in the coal mines.
So what happens to Stanley?
We know what happens because he re-enlists in Feb. 1952. The personnel record shows that directly after the war, Stanley worked in the Halifax shipyards. From Oct.1946-1949, he worked for General Seafoods as an assistant foreman. There was a General Seafoods Clam Factory at Ostrea Lake, east of Halifax, which was open at this time and closed in the early 1950's due to over fishing. From Oct. 1959 to Feb 1952, this record shows that Stanley worked Inco in the summer and bushwork in the winter. Inco is a nickel mine in Sudbury, ON and there were many lumber camps in Northern Ontario at that time. Apparently Stanley had married Rosena, my mom's cousin, and had a son in 1948. Rosena was shown to be living at 6 Main St. in Kirkland Lake at this time, but it is noted that she is willing to move back to Halifax as he particularly wants to service in a Nova Scotian regiment. (his birth date is still incorrect)
After signing up in Toronto, Stanley returns to Halifax and over his term is attached to the North Nova Scotia Highlanders in Halifax, the 1 Cdn Highland Bn, and the 1 RHC in Aldershot. He is re-engaged for another 3 years on 12 Feb. 1955 in Gagetown which he spends attached to the 2RHC in Aldershot. Rosena moves to Kentville in the fall of 1955 which is closer to his Aldershot location and might account for several notations of Stanley going AWOL over the next several years. Stanley was honourably released on the 25th Jun 1958 in Halifax.
Stanley was not yet finished with the military...
Our story of Stanley ends with his Death Certificate. He died 14 Feb 1969 at the Camp Hill Hospital in Halifax, of lung cancer. He had been living with his wife Rosena on Cornwallis St in Halifax and had, until his illness, been working as a commissionaire at the Naval Dockyard. Stanley was buried in St Joseph's Cemetery in Sydney Mines.
17 Oct 1962
Headstone photo - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/217648869/stanley-mclean/photo#view-photo=215656413
Stanley was not an extraordinary man, but he was one of the multitude of men and women that left our country to do an extraordinary task; to prevent our country, and our Allies, from being overtaken by a Fascist dictator. He was a man from rural Nova Scotia, used to the hard life of the family of a coal miner. He joined the army, possibly for a regular income, as opposed to a great sense of patriotism, but he stayed the course. He saw and experienced things which many of the survivors of WWII were never able to speak of.
This brings us back to the discovery of a cigar box in an apartment by a lovely woman who recognized the treasure within, and wanted to unite them with a family. The apartment had been Stanley and Rosena's son, Stanley Malcolm. He had kept them upon his mother's death. She had saved them as mementos of Stanley. They are ordinary items saved from an extraordinary time, both in her life and that of our country.
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