516222 Private Francis William Egan, (1915-10/5/1944). "keen and successful footballer"

Private F. W. Egan, who has been reported killed in action, was the second son of Mr and Mrs William Egan, of Wreys Bush. He was 29 years of age and was born at Wreys Bush, where he attended the Convent School. On leaving school he worked on his father’s farm until he was appointed graderdriver in the Wairio riding of the Wallace County Council. He held this job until his enlistment. He was a keen and successful footballer and played in the Army team at Blenheim and was an enthusiastic trotting owner. He was a member of the Wairio Trotting Club.  -Southland Times, 25/5/1944.

At the time that Francis Egan died his Battalion, the 26th was engaged in difficult fighting between fixed positions in the Rapido Valley to the north of Monte Cassino.  The Official History of the 26th Battalion describes the period:

It was soon evident that this sector was going to be more lively than the last, for it was in full view of enemy gunners stationed on the slopes of Mount Cairo and the high ground around Terelle, which lay about a mile beyond the FDLs. (Forward Defence Lines) Any movement during the daytime drew heavy fire from these guns. At night it was the turn of the German infantry, and during the next fortnight enemy patrols were active all along the front. It became almost a nightly occurrence for the forward platoons of A Coy to defend their ground against these patrols, who were sometimes armed with flame-throwers. Reconnaissance patrols were accompanied by dogs. The aggressive tactics of the Germans —intensive patrolling by night and concentrated shelling and mortaring by day — were very trying, but by adopting similar tactics the battalion succeeded in reducing the enemy activity. Lines were run out to each company headquarters and, although signallers found them difficult to maintain, they proved invaluable in calling down artillery and mortar fire on enemy troop movements, patrols and working parties. Nearly every night Bren guns fired on fixed lines forward of the sector, while the Mortar Platoon fired heavy concentrations on suspected enemy positions. The 21st Battalion had been unable clearly to establish the location of the German FDLs and reconnaissance patrols sent out by 26 Battalion were also unsuccessful.

Wreys Bush Cemetery.