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Cenotaph record

Fergus Blair McLaren

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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

Wreath, 1999, laid by the Greek Community on the Cenotaph in Auckland and later moved to the Hall of …

Identity

About

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  • Title
  • Forenames
    Fergus Blair AWMM
  • Surname
    McLaren AWMM
  • Ingoa
  • Also known as
  • Service number
    12865 AWMM
  • Gender
    Male AWMM
  • Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
  • Religion
    Presbyterian, Christian AWMM

Civilian life

About birth

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  • Birth
    10 April 1914 AWMM
  • Date of birth
  • Place of birth
  • Birth notes
  • Address before enlistment
    Unknown AWMM 19 Blair Street, Mornington, Dunedin, New Zealand AWMM
  • Post war occupation
  • Next of kin on embarkation
    Mrs H. McLaren (mother), 19 Blair Street, Mornington, Dunedin, New Zealand AWMM
  • Relationship status
    Unknown AWMM Single AWMM

Service

Wars and conflicts

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  • War
    World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM
  • Campaign
  • Armed force / branch
    Army AWMM
  • Service number
    12865 AWMM
  • Military service
  • Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers

Military decorations

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Training and Enlistment

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  • Military training
  • Branch Trade Proficiency
  • Enlistment
    WW2 Clergyman/Civilian AWMM
  • Occupation before enlistment
  • Age on enlistment

Embarkations

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Prisoner of war

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  • Capture details
  • Days interned
  • Liberation date
  • Liberation Repatriation
  • POW liberation details
  • POW serial number

Medical history

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  • Medical notes
    Killed in Action, Cause of Death AWMM

Last known rank

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Biographical information

Biographical information

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    • 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
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Death

About death

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  • Death
    27 April 1941 AWMM
    Age 27 AWMM
    AWMM
  • Date of death
  • Age at death
  • Place of death
  • Cause of death
    Killed in Action AWMM
  • Death notes
  • Cemetery
  • Cemetery name
  • Grave reference
  • Obituary
  • Memorial name
  • Memorial reference

Memorials

Memorial

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  • Memorial name
    Athens Memorial, Phaleron War Cemetery, Athens, Greece AWMM

Roll of Honour

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Leave a note

Leave a tribute or memory of Fergus Blair McLaren

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  • My name is Rosemary Gwendolyn Sutherland. My mother Gwendolyn Lois Sutherland nee McLaren was Fergus' sister. There was only the two of them.
    I was born a few weeks after Fergus was killed in action in Greece.
    I was named Rosemary for "Remembrance."
    He was deeply mourned by our family.
    My younger brother Fergus McLaren Sutherland is named for him.
    Public - Rosemary - Other relative - 4 February 2021
    Report 

Sources

Sources

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  • External links
  • References
    • Military Personnel file AWMM
    • 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. AWMM
      WW2 3: WW2 303 AWMM
    • Fergus: a memoir of Fergus Blair McLaren. (1951). Wellington, N.Z.: A.H. & A.W. Reed. AWMM
      By his Friends. (1951). Fergus: a memoir of Fergus Blair McLaren. Contains portraits. AWMM
    • Pringle, D., & Glue, W. (1957). 20 Battalion and Armoured Regiment. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch. AWMM

Contributors

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DateFirst namesLocationRelationshipContact
02 August 2021RobertWyomingResearcher
04 February 2021RosemaryNelsonOther relative

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