In 1939, eighteen year old JOHN MACLEAN was the first from his remote area of Scotland to get a place at Edinburgh University,
however events on the global stage were to completely change the direction of his life. Throughout WWII John was a British Military
Intelligence officer, living on his wits, operating behind enemy lines in Norway, Italy and even countries which were
supposed to be neutral.John single-handedly captured SS Hauptsturmführer Siegfried Fehmer, head of the Gestapo in Norway, in June 1945, high on a Norwegian mountain during a snow storm. It was a further two days before John could get Fehmer off the mountain, plenty of time for both men to reflect over the previous 6 years and the lives they had lost.
This is not just another war drama: real people lived, loved and gave their lives so that we might have the chance to know this story. Gillean's Children is a dramatised account of the life of John Maclean - it is a true story.
Gillean of the Battle Axe was a celebrated 13th century warrior, rewarded by the King of Dalriada with the Island of Mull. 'Maclean' means 'son of [Gil] lean' - hence all Macleans are Gillean's Children.
