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 recruited the 79th Battalion from Brandon and sailed to England in April 1916.