Fergus Blair McLaren
Born 10 Apr 1914 - Died 27 Apr 1941
- Service number
- 12865 AWMM
- Also known as
- —
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Last rank
- Second Lieutenant AWMM 20 Infantry Battalion AWMM
- War
- World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM
About
- Title
- —
- Forenames
- Fergus Blair AWMM
- Surname
- McLaren AWMM
- Ingoa
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- Also known as
- —
- Service number
- 12865 AWMM
- Gender
- Male AWMM
- Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
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- Religion
- Presbyterian, Christian AWMM
Images
Documents
About birth
- Birth
- 10 Apr 1914 AWMM
- Date of birth
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- Place of birth
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- Birth notes
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- Address before enlistment
- Unknown AWMM 19 Blair Street, Mornington, Dunedin, New Zealand AWMM
- Post war occupation
- —
- Next of kin
- Mrs H. McLaren (mother), 19 Blair Street, Mornington, Dunedin, New Zealand AWMM
- Relationship status
- Unknown AWMM Single AWMM
Wars and conflicts
- War
- World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM
- Campaign
- —
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Service number
- 12865 AWMM
- Military service
- —
- Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers
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Military decorations
- Medals and Awards
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Training and Enlistment
- Military training
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- Branch Trade Proficiency
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- Enlistment
- WW2 Clergyman/Civilian AWMM
- Age on enlistment
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- Occupation before enlistment
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Embarkations
- Embarkation details
- WW2 Second Lieutenant AWMM Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force AWMM
Prisoner of war
- Capture details
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- Days interned
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- Liberation date
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- POW liberation details
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- Liberation Repatriation
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- POW serial number
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Medical history
- Medical notes
- Killed in Action, Cause of Death AWMM
Last known rank
- Last rank
- Second Lieutenant AWMM
20 Infantry Battalion AWMM - Last rank
- —
Biographical information
- 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
About death
- Death
- 27 Apr 1941 AWMM
Age 27 AWMM
Greece AWMM - Date of death
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- Age at death
- —
- Place of death
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- Cause of death
- Killed in Action AWMM
- Death notes
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- Cemetery
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- Cemetery name
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- Grave reference
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- Obituary
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- Memorial name
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- Memorial reference
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Memorial
- Memorial name
- Athens Memorial, Phaleron War Cemetery, Athens, Greece AWMM
Sources
- External links
- Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, Archives Research Centre. Register of New Zealand Presbyterian Ministers, Deaconesses & Missionaries 1840 to 2007.
http://www.archives.presbyterian.org.nz/page143.html
Sources Used - Commonwealth War Graves Commission record
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2629068
Sources Used - Pringle, D., & Glue, W. (1957). 20 Battalion and Armoured Regiment. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/webarchive/20210222122055/http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2-20Ba.html
Further Reference - Fergus Sutherland video of journey following Fergus Mclaren through Greece. https://www.youtube.com/Public - Fergus McLaren - Other relative - 16 August 2026 - Personal papers, photos and videos. National archives photos.
- Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, Archives Research Centre. Register of New Zealand Presbyterian Ministers, Deaconesses & Missionaries 1840 to 2007.
- References
- Military Personnel file
- Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. (1941). Nominal Roll Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force No. 3 (Embarkations from 1st July, 1940 to 31st March, 1941). Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
WW2 3: WW2 303 - Fergus: a memoir of Fergus Blair McLaren. (1951). Wellington, N.Z.: A.H. & A.W. Reed.
By his Friends. (1951). Fergus: a memoir of Fergus Blair McLaren. Contains portraits. - Pringle, D., & Glue, W. (1957). 20 Battalion and Armoured Regiment. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
- McClymont, W. (1959). To Greece. Wellington, N.Z.: Department Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
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