Gefreiter or Corporal Rudolf Blume served in the German Wehrmacht during World War Two. He was born in Roßlau, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany on 4th December 1910.
In 1945, he came to Markethill, Co. Armagh as prisoner of war B4534 and found himself detained in Camp 10, Gosford Castle. On 25th May 1945, Blume was part of a prisoner transport involved in a road traffic collision on the outskirts of Markethill.
Blume and fellow prisoner August Kreinbring died as a result of the collision. The Germans received treatment at Campbell College Military Hospital, Belfast, Co. Antrim.
A German Officer named Schuller attended the inquest into the incident. He told authorities of his disgust at learning about the Nazi concentration camps. He went on to thank the people of Northern Ireland for their hospitable treatment of German prisoners. In particular, he thanked those who had tried to help save the lives of Blume and Kreinbring.
Corporal Rudolf Blume’s grave is in Block 4, Row 1, Grave 6 of Cannock Chase German Military Cemetery, Penkridge Bank, Staffordshire, England. He was first buried on 29th May 1945 in Glenalina Section ES, Grave 182, Belfast City Cemetery, Belfast, Co. Antrim. He was repatriated on 13th July 1962.