Fergus Blair McLaren

I whānau mai i te 10 Apr 1914 - I mate atu i te 27 Apr 1941

Nama Hōia: 12865 AWMM
Ingoa kārangaranga: —
Te Ope o Tū / te peka: Army AWMM
Te tūnga whakamutunga: Second Lieutenant AWMM 20 Infantry Battalion AWMM
Pakanga: World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM

Mātātuhi

Lay a poppy

Fergus Blair McLaren — Wreath, 1999, laid by the Greek Community on the Cenotaph in Auckland and later moved to the Hall of Memories, Auckland War Memorial Museum on Anzac Day 1999 in memory of those who died in Greece. - This image may be subject to copyright

Whakaatu mai ngā āpure e wātea ana Hunaia ngā mātāwai kōrero

Kōrero taurongo

Son of George McLaren and of Hilda McLaren (nee Blair), of Clinton, Otago. AWMM
2nd Lt. Fergus McLaren was killed during the withdrawal through Markopoulon, Greece in 1941.

From the Official War History of 20th Battalion and Armoured Regiment pg 72:

"Captain Rice's31 8-cwt truck led the little convoy through Markopoulon to B Company's positions. The company sergeant-major, WO II Shirley, describes the attack:

On the outskirts of Markopoulon our route branched off the main road to Porto Rafti and we proceeded about two miles along this dirt road. On the left was a gradually sloping ridge dotted with an occasional tree while on the right was fairly flat ground with some rocky formations. On one flat piece there was a grape orchard. Ahead and further out on the right were some trees.

We halted, and because of the towing the trucks were nose to tail. 12 Platoon under Lieutenant Fergus MacLaren had failed to arrive and Captain Rice sent me down the road to look for them. At the same time he called a meeting of platoon commanders. We did not debus as soon as we stopped for the men were dead weary at this stage and very confused. In another two minutes Captain Rice would have finished his conference and the platoons would have been in their defensive positions.

I was only about a hundred yards down the road when a number of aeroplanes swooped very low over the ridge. The men were still on their trucks awaiting dispersal orders but immediately the attack began they scattered and took what cover they could on both sides of the road. The attack continued for some considerable time, the planes swooping very low up and down the road and strafing the road itself, the trucks and the men. All the vehicles except the OC's 8-cwt were ‘brewed up’ by incendiary bullets, which also set fire to crop in which some of the men were sheltering.

The Porto Rafti road was getting a doing over at the same time and it later transpired that 12 Platoon were on this road, having mistaken the turn off. It was here that Lieutenant Fergus MacLaren was killed. In the main group Captain Ayto had been badly shot through both knees and was carried clear of the road to the side of a hill. He later died of wounds. Three of the men killed we buried in the grape vines and evacuated the other killed and wounded to the beach in the ‘pick-up’. It was altogether a very nasty raid."
Public - Robert - Researcher - 2 August 2021 - 20 Battalion and Armoured Regiment (pg 72)

Authors:

Glue, W. A.
Pringle, D. J. C.
Publication details: Historical Publications Branch, 1957, Wellington

E hangaia tonutia ana te Maumaharatanga Tuihono; tāpirihia ai ngā whakahoutanga me ngā pūkete i ia wiki. I ētahi wā, kāore anō kia whakaūhia ngā pūkete e ngā kaimahi o Te Whare Taonga, tēnā pea he hapa kei roto i ngā kōrero.

Kua whai mana ngā raraunga a Tāmaki Paenga Hira i raro i te mana o te raihana Āhuatanga a Creative Commons 4.0 Raihana ā-ao

Fergus Blair McLaren

Fergus Blair McLaren

Tuakiri

E pā ana ki

Mātātuhi me ngā tuhinga

Mātātuhi

Ngā tuhinga

Tauoranga kirirarau

Te whānautanga

Ope taua

Ngā pakanga me ngā whawhai

Ngā tohu taumata rau ope taua

Te Whakangungu me te Urunga atu

Te maha o ngā ekenga waka

Mauhere o te pakanga

Whakapapa hauora

Te tūnga whakamutunga e mōhiotia ana

Kōrero taurongo

Kōrero taurongo

Matenga

Te matenga

Ngā maumaharatanga

Maumaharatanga

Ngā mātāwai

Ngā mātāwai