I'm looking for information regarding my grandfather, Fred McLean, born 1916 in Duval County Texas. He left Texas in 1941 for Canada to enlist in the Canadian forces and was killed in France in 1942. He said he was from Benavides, Duval County Texas, and worked as a photographer and ranch hand. His father was Pete McLean and mother named Yvonne. He had a brother named Thomas McLean who was killed in Mexico. There is no record of any of these people anywhere. Does anyone know of a good source of informaion for Benavides for the 1930's'40's? I have long lost family in Duval County Texas somewhere. I would like to find them.

Sorry I have no information on your family. I just wanted to tell you I am having the same problem with my great grandfather who was born in Benavides, Duval County. I tried calling Austin to see if his records were there, but they didn't have any record of him. It's very frustrating.

Have you tried familysearch.org? Click on Search Records and select Pilot search. It is a wonderful source and there are some entries in Canada just not sure if that will help you.

http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=home
Frederick Mclean b.est.1918 died Aug. 19,1942, in France, at age 24, married to Winnifred Mclean. This record in Ontorio,

http://objectifdieppe.ifrance.com/essex.html
This is the article naming the solders that were killed. Frederick Mclean is listed here. It is in French.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieppe_Raid
The day he was killed and what happened.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1942
This will explain what happened in that year, 1942, that lead up Fred,s death. Hope this helps. Good luck. Vidia