Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Younger of two brothers (Thomas and Reginald) who served in WWII, Staff Sergeant Reginald Albert Blythman (Service No:SX16424) enlisted in the AIF on 17 January 1942 as a Private - trade group Clerk. Sergeant Blythman served in Darwin NT from 23 February 1944 to 30 September 1945 with Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (AEME) and 2 Australian Motor Transport Workshop. Staff Sergeant Blythman was attached to 10 Base Workshop at Discharge on 14 January 1947.

Reg was born in Minlaton, South Australia in 1914, youngest of two children of Arthur (Joe) Joseph Herbert Blythman (b1887 at Dashwood Gully via Kangarilla, South Australia) and his first wife Agnes Martha Poole (b1891 in Millicent, Wattle Range, South Australia). Joe and Agnes married in 1910 in Minlaton, and Joe was working as a Mason at Dashwood Gully via Kangarilla when he enlisted in the AIF - serving for twelve months (February 1916 - February 1917) before being Discharged as Medically Unfit. Joe and Agnes settled in Adelaide, where Joe was a Bricklayer when they divorced in 1935 - both remarried. In 1941, Joe and his second wife - Vera Agnes Guerrin (b1898 in Hahndorf, South Australia) - settled at McLaren Flat via Morphett Vale, where Joe was a Farmer.

Reg was a competitive cyclist from an early age, and in 1933 became President of the SA Amateur Cyclists' Union. Reg was a Grocer in Adelaide in 1936 when he married Mary Anna Lamb (b1915 in Moonta, South Australia). Following his Discharge from the Army, Reg and Mary settled in Adelaide, where they raised their family and Reg was a respected Cyclist and Sports Administrator and Commentator/Reporter - inluding Secretary of the Amateur Cyclists' Association, Manager of the Norwood Cycling Arena, Manager and Secretary of the Adelaide Sportsmens' Club, Vice President of the South Australian Olympic Council and Delegate to the Australian Olympic Federation, and National Secretary of the Australian Sportsmens' Association. Reg died in 1967 and Mary died in 1999.