David Block

Brigadier David Arthur Kennedy William Block CBE, DSO, MC, (13 June 1908 – 2001) was a British Army officer who, during the Second World War, won a Military Cross when commanding "C" Battery of the Ayrshire Yeomanry in North Africa and the DSO in Italy the following year. He was later was appointed ADC to the Queen. 2Early life Block was born at Cothall in Aberdeenshire and was the twin brother of Major-General Adam Block. He was educated at Blundell's School in Tiverton and at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich before being commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1928. In 1931, Block joined the 2nd Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery, and went with them to Cairo as adjutant. He was an instructor at RMA Woolwich in 1936 until the outbreak of war. 2World War II On the outbreak of war Block was posted to the 12th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, TA, in West Lothian, again as adjutant. His obituary records his wartime services in North Africa and Italy: “In April 1943, the Axis forces were slowly being squeezed into a pocket around Tunis. On 9 April, the 26th Armoured Brigade received orders to drive a gap through the high ridges flanking the Fondouk Pass. Standing in their way, guarding the entrance, was the Djebel Rhorab, a rocky outcrop held by German infantry in strengt