Neil McLean (politician)
|
Lieutenant-Colonel Billy McLean |
|
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Inverness-shire |
|
|
In office 1954–1964 |
|
| Preceded by | Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton |
| Succeeded by | Russell Johnston |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
28 November 1918 Sutherland, Scotland, United Kingdom |
| Died | 17 November 1986 (aged 67) London, England, United Kingdom |
| Father | Neil Gillean McLean |
| Awards |
DSO and Two Bars Distinguished Military Medal of Haile Selassie I General Service Medal GVI 1 General Service Medal, Palestine 1945-48 & Bar |
| Military service | |
| Nickname(s) | Billy |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch |
Royal Scots Greys Special Operations Executive MI9 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-Colonel |
| Unit | Special Operations Executive |
| Commands |
Gideon Force, Ethiopia 1st Partisan Brigade, Albania |
| Battles/wars |
World War II Albanian Subversion |
Lieutenant-Colonel Neil Loudon Desmond McLean DSO, known as Billy McLean (28 November 1918 – 17 November 1986), was a British Army intelligence officer and politician. During the World War II he worked for Special Operations Executive and was involved in clandestine missions in Ethiopia, China and particularly in Albania. In 1954 he served as a Unionist Member of Parliament for Inverness.
McLean was born in Sutherland, Scotland, the elder son of Neil Gillean McLean, who had made a great deal of money trading with India and owned an estate at Glencalvie. The family called him "Billy". He was educated at Eton College, where he excelled in fencing, becoming Captain of the school team. He was then sent to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst to train to become an officer. Having spent his holiday periods fox hunting, he was a keen sportsman and won many point to point races while attending Sandhurst.
In August 1938 on leaving Sandhurst, McLean was commissioned into the Royal Scots Greys. The following year he was posted to Palestine and spent the first two years of the Second World War there. In 1941, he was transferred to the Special Operations Executive, an unorthodox military unit which worked behind enemy lines on sabotage and espionage. After completing his training he was sent to join Col. Wingate's Gideon Force in Ethiopia, where he commanded a mixed group of Ethiopian and Eritrean irregulars (nicknamed "McLean's Foot") against the occupying Italian army. For his efforts he was awarded the Distinguished Military Medal of Haile Selassie I in 1941. 1942 saw McLean shifted to a staff job with the SOE; first in Cairo, Egypt then in Syria and back in Palestine. He also worked for MI9 in Istanbul aiding resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied countries.
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