Sargent Sidney Freeman
South African Army 8 Armoured Brigade Desert Rats
My grandfather, Sidney Freeman, was a sargent in the South African army fighting against the Germans in World War II. He was part of an infantry referred to as “The Desert Rats” and they fought in North Africa. Below is a transcript from a newspaper article summarising an event in which my grandsfather was later awarded a Military medal for his bravery. The incident happened in Tobruk. We think they were in the Eighth Army going to El Alamein.
"Corporal Sidney Freeman was awarded the Military Medal "on June 29 while commanding a car in a troop of armoured cars," said the official narrative, "he was ordered to act as a decoy to three German guns which were shelling the forward patrol line. Corporal Freeman did this with skill and courage and with a total disregard for personal safety, and it was in great measure due to him that the two -pounder gun was deployed with success. Throughout this action Corporal Freeman car was under heavy fire."
My grandfather also told my family that Rommel flew over them a number of times and on one occasion he was in their sights but their gun jammed and he was unable to fire.
