VETERAN soldiers will honour an East Lancashire war hero at his funeral service tomorrow.

William McClelland, who was decorated with the Distinguished Conduct Medal by King George VI, died in Blackburn Royal Infirmary aged 76. He had been ill for several weeks.

Mr McClelland, who was known as Bill, was decorated as a corporal with the Royal Ulster Rifles during the Second World War. During a surprise attack on German lines near Monte Cassino, Italy, he became platoon leader when his senior officers were shot.

The platoon held strong under his command, even though it was under heavy fire and though Cpl McClelland was wounded, he twice crawled back to company headquarters with vital messages.

His heroics were mentioned in a book called The London Irish at War, the London Irish being a section of the Royal Ulster Rifles.

Bill was born in Omagh, Northern Ireland and lived there as a child. When he was 16 he lied about his age to become a soldier, the age limit being 18. He served for four years, mainly in North Africa and Italy.

The day after the action for which Bill was decorated, he lost his right foot when he stood on a mine. He was shipped by hospital boat to Liverpool and on to hospital in Blackburn. He met and fell in love with a volunteer hospital worker Irene and the couple married at Christ Church, Grimshaw Park, 55 years ago.

In 1946 he travelled to Buckingham Palace to receive his DCM, the first time an investiture was held inside the palace.

After recovering from his war wounds, Bill ran the pleasure boats on Queens Park lake and later worked as a painter and decorator at Thwaites' brewery, Blackburn, for about 20 years. He then moved to work at the Royal Ordnance Factory in the town before becoming a club steward.

He served at Longshaw Unity Working Men's Club and Darwen Subscription Bowling Club and was a former president of the Blackburn and Darwen Stewards' Association.

Bill was featured in the EveningTelegraph in 1989, when his friends at Longshaw WMC organised a 'This Is Your Life' evening, where he met his sister, Eileen, who came across from Canada, for the first time in 15 years.

He leaves his wife, children Pat, Maureen, Terry and Karen, 14 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

His funeral will be held tomorrow, wed, at Christ Church, followed by burial at Pleasington Cemetery. Colleagues from the Royal British Legion and the British Legion Ex-Servicemen's Association are expected to attend.

Picture: Bill with his sister, Eileen, who he was meeting for the first time in 15 years at the This Is Your Life' event.