Lieutenant Colonel Dr. George Clingan, M.L.A.
79th (Manitoba) Battalion

Col. Clingan made an eloquent appeal for recruits, “Don’t let your children-to-be say in the after years, ‘My daddy was too cowardly to fight in the big war.’”

(Winnipeg Tribune, 11 Mar 1916, 12)

George Clingan was a doctor and Liberal member for Virden in the Manitoba legislature between 1914 and 1922. He was born on 28 March 1868 in Orangeville, Ontario and graduated from the Toronto Medical College. After moving his medical practice to Manitoba, he joined the 12th Dragoons in 1898, rising to the rank of major. He raising the 79th Battalion from Brandon and sailed to England in April 1916.

After his unit was broken up, Clingan transferred to the Canadian Army Medical Corps. In late 1916, he was posted to the convalescence hospital in Monks Horton, England. When Dr. David Donald was wounded and shell shocked in an air raid in August 1918, Clingan assumed command of the No. 2 Canadian Stationary Hospital at Boulogne, France. He returned to Canada in January 1919.

After losing his seat in the legislature during the 1922 provincial election, Clingan returned to his medical practice. In 1936, he became president of the Manitoba Medical Association. He died on 25 January 1944 following a car accident. As the local coroner, Clingan had been on his way to investigate a motorcycle fatality at the same location just north of Cromer.

Digitized Service File (LAC):
http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?op=pdf&app=CEF&id=B1803-S034