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Pte. David Bladen
South African Army Die Middelandse Regimant
from:Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa
David Bladen enlisted in the South African Army on 16th April 1940, in the service of South Africa and the British Commonwealth of Nations. His designation was Vickers Machine Gun team member.
David served in Die Middelandse Regiment in the 2nd South African Division and saw service at Libya, North Africa. He was wounded in Bardia on 2nd of January 1942 and returned to the front in time to be taken POW at Tobruk on 21st of June 1942.
David spent six months in a POW camp at Benghazi, and was then shipped to Italy. He worked as farm labourer on an estate near Brindisi until September 1943 when he was trucked to Germany (Stalag 8A at Goerlitz). He was sent to work in a sugar factory in Schweidnitz in southern Poland for nine months. David returned to Goerlitz for six months, and then was sent to a lumber mill in the Black Forest. He returned to Goerlitz in time to start the 500-mile walk westward, ending up at Kreiensen, from which he escaped in April 1945. He was demobilized in May 1945. He returned to England and then to South Africa.
