mikereme Posted 17 June , 2020 Share Posted 17 June , 2020 Hello Everyone, Could this great forum tell me were & when Adolf Hitler was awarded his Iron Cross? I thank you in anticipation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 17 June , 2020 Share Posted 17 June , 2020 The Iron Cross 2nd Class was officially awarded on 2 December 1914, 1st Class on 4 August 1918. Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikereme Posted 17 June , 2020 Author Share Posted 17 June , 2020 1 minute ago, AOK4 said: The Iron Cross 2nd Class was officially awarded on 2 December 1914, 1st Class on 4 August 1918. Jan Hello Jan, Thank you...where did he get these awards-- location if possible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 17 June , 2020 Share Posted 17 June , 2020 (edited) Towards the end of the war when he was an RHQ runner, and apparently against the French (possibly the Battle of Montdidier 9 Aug 18). There was some 'suggestion' that his awards were influenced by the unit's staff captain who later was one of his two personal adjutants during WW2. Edited 17 June , 2020 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikereme Posted 17 June , 2020 Author Share Posted 17 June , 2020 11 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said: Towards the end of the war when he was an RHQ runner. There was some 'suggestion' that his awards were influenced by the unit's staff captain who later was one of his two personal adjutants during WW2. Thank you...any idea of where he got his award belgium/france and if possible exact location? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 17 June , 2020 Share Posted 17 June , 2020 (edited) 3 minutes ago, mikereme said: Thank you...any idea of where he got his award belgium/france and if possible exact location? I'm not positive, but given the date of August 1918 and the little information that it was connected with his capture of some French troops, it seems most likely to have been the Battle of Montdidier, launched on 9 Aug 1918. Edited 17 June , 2020 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 17 June , 2020 Share Posted 17 June , 2020 There is a thread on the forum from quite some years ago if you care to search. TR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikereme Posted 17 June , 2020 Author Share Posted 17 June , 2020 18 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said: I'm not positive, but given the date of August 1918 and the little information that it was connected with his capture of some French troops, it seems most likely to have been the Battle of Montdidier, launched on 9 Aug 1918. Cheers buddy 3 minutes ago, Terry_Reeves said: There is a thread on the forum from quite some years ago if you care to search. TR Already tried to no avail...if you could point me the right direction would appreciate it...!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberley John Lindsay Posted 17 June , 2020 Share Posted 17 June , 2020 (edited) Dear All and mikereme, AH's Jewish commanding officer Ltn der Res. Hugo Gutmann (1880-1962), recommended him for the EKI during the action near Soissons, 4 Aug 1918. Gutman and his family were able to flee Germany via Belgium, France, and Portugal, to the USA. (Source: Wikipedia) Kindest regards, Kim. Edited 17 June , 2020 by Kimberley John Lindsay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 17 June , 2020 Share Posted 17 June , 2020 26 minutes ago, mikereme said: Cheers buddy Already tried to no avail...if you could point me the right direction would appreciate it...!! Try this Mike: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikereme Posted 17 June , 2020 Author Share Posted 17 June , 2020 43 minutes ago, Kimberley John Lindsay said: Dear All and mikereme, AH's Jewish commanding officer Ltn der Res. Hugo Gutmann (1880-1962), recommended him for the EKI during the action near Soissons, 4 Aug 1918. Gutman and his family were able to flee Germany via Belgium, France, and Portugal, to the USA. Kindest regards, Kim. great thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikereme Posted 17 June , 2020 Author Share Posted 17 June , 2020 42 minutes ago, Terry_Reeves said: Try this Mike: Ok...still none the wiser apart from he may of received it at Montdidier/Soissons..thank you everyone whos helping me out....you would think that someonea sinfamous as Adolf Hitler would be quite easy to find...but thank you for those who have submitted... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 17 June , 2020 Share Posted 17 June , 2020 5 minutes ago, mikereme said: Ok...still none the wiser apart from he may of received it at Montdidier/Soissons..thank you everyone whos helping me out....you would think that someonea sinfamous as Adolf Hitler would be quite easy to find...but thank you for those who have submitted... Mike, I suspect that if the search was carried out in the German language more information might be available. You can always make a fist of it with google translate, or similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 18 June , 2020 Share Posted 18 June , 2020 Iron Crosses were often awarded not just for one particular action but for a longer period of very good conduct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmeg Posted 18 June , 2020 Share Posted 18 June , 2020 I believe in later years Hitler went to some efforts to have many of the records pertaining to his earlier life "lost", school records and the like- don;t know whether this extended to his military career? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBrook Posted 18 June , 2020 Share Posted 18 June , 2020 (edited) This book says Croonaert Wood, Wytschaete https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=t5C6DQAAQBAJ&pg=PT220&lpg=PT220&dq=Hitler+Croonaert+Wood&source=bl&ots=IvvT3FFgth&sig=ACfU3U0H4eRrNVHPj1WntWtTTjzPh9KbIA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiK-MTl5IrqAhWUThUIHYMTD6UQ6AEwBHoECBcQAQ#v=onepage&q=Hitler Croonaert Wood&f=false but unfortunately mangles the date and quotes 2 December 1814. Edit add:- I think this is the old thread Terry referred to Edited 18 June , 2020 by HarryBrook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikereme Posted 18 June , 2020 Author Share Posted 18 June , 2020 Hello harry, this looks great....Croonart Wood/Chapel...am going there for a tour in the future...thank you so much eceryone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 18 June , 2020 Share Posted 18 June , 2020 4 hours ago, Madmeg said: I believe in later years Hitler went to some efforts to have many of the records pertaining to his earlier life "lost", school records and the like- don;t know whether this extended to his military career? No, the military records are kept in Munich and are even on ancestry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOVE23 Posted 19 June , 2020 Share Posted 19 June , 2020 14 hours ago, AOK4 said: No, the military records are kept in Munich and are even on ancestry. Ironically, the military records of my Prussian ancestor were destroyed because of the war Gefreiter Hitler started! Has anyone ever actually located the actual EKI of Hitler? I would assume he was wearing it when he killed himself and then probably melted or otherwise destroyed when his body was burned but I guess there may not ever be a perfect answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 19 June , 2020 Share Posted 19 June , 2020 On 18/06/2020 at 09:35, mikereme said: Hello harry, this looks great....Croonart Wood/Chapel...am going there for a tour in the future...thank you so much eceryone! So Croonaert for 1914 2nd Class and Soissons for Aug 1918 1st Class? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteStarLine Posted 19 June , 2020 Share Posted 19 June , 2020 12 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said: Croonaert for 1914 John Williams in Corporal Hitler and the Great War 1914 - 1918 devotes quite a few pages to the awards, particularly to Lyn Macdonald's 1987 claim that Hitler dashed through heavy fire to rescue his commanding officer Captain Hoffman. Alas, there was no Captain Hoffmann in the List Regiment. Williams gives the date range as 15 - 17 November 1914, while involved in a Bavarian attack on Wytschaete. They were trapped by heavy shellfire in the ravine that faced the wood near Wytschaete. Williams quotes a 1932 report by the adjutant of the List Regiment, Eichelsdorfer: "The regimental commander wanted to intervene personally and set out from the ravine for the edge of the woods [but] he had hardly been discovered by the keen eye of the enemy, when murderous infantry and machine-gun fire was directed at him. He would have paid with his life for his foolhardiness [had not] the regimental-orderlies accompanying him, Adolf Hitler and Bachmann sprung forward ..." The exact place is not cited but is described as a ravine facing a wedge-shaped wood. His regimental commander described it as occurring at the wood itself but apparently his adjutant was correct in that it was the facing ravine. "As our men were storming the wedge-shaped wood stepped out of the woods near Wytschaete to get a better view of developments. Hitler and the volunteer Bachmann, another battle orderly from the 16th Regiment, stood before me to protect me with their bodies from the machine-gun fire to which I was exposed." Williams, John Frank, 1933– Corporal Hitler and the Great War 1914–1918 : the List Regiment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 19 June , 2020 Share Posted 19 June , 2020 3 minutes ago, WhiteStarLine said: John Williams in Corporal Hitler and the Great War 1914 - 1918 devotes quite a few pages to the awards, particularly to Lyn Macdonald's 1987 claim that Hitler dashed through heavy fire to rescue his commanding officer Captain Hoffman. Alas, there was no Captain Hoffmann in the List Regiment. Williams gives the date range as 15 - 17 November 1914, while involved in a Bavarian attack on Wytschaete. They were trapped by heavy shellfire in the ravine that faced the wood near Wytschaete. Williams quotes a 1932 report by the adjutant of the List Regiment, Eichelsdorfer: "The regimental commander wanted to intervene personally and set out from the ravine for the edge of the woods [but] he had hardly been discovered by the keen eye of the enemy, when murderous infantry and machine-gun fire was directed at him. He would have paid with his life for his foolhardiness [had not] the regimental-orderlies accompanying him, Adolf Hitler and Bachmann sprung forward ..." The exact place is not cited but is described as a ravine facing a wedge-shaped wood. His regimental commander described it as occurring at the wood itself but apparently his adjutant was correct in that it was the facing ravine. "As our men were storming the wedge-shaped wood stepped out of the woods near Wytschaete to get a better view of developments. Hitler and the volunteer Bachmann, another battle orderly from the 16th Regiment, stood before me to protect me with their bodies from the machine-gun fire to which I was exposed." Williams, John Frank, 1933–Corporal Hitler and the Great War 1914–1918 : the List Regiment That seems a fairly definitive account, thank you. So Wytschaete for 1914 and the 2nd Class Award. I wonder if there’s as good an account of the Aug 1918 award relating to the 1st Class Award ostensibly at Soissons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteStarLine Posted 19 June , 2020 Share Posted 19 June , 2020 31 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said: I wonder if there’s as good an account of the Aug 1918 award relating to the 1st Class Award ostensibly at Soissons. From the same reference as post #21: Williams dismisses lurid post-war accounts, propaganda by Goebbels and the version taught to German schoolchildren, then quotes the official citation. This makes it clear that this Iron Cross was not awarded for any one act of bravery, but several. Page 190 has the List Regiment at St. Agnan and the award date as 4 August 1918. As a runner, his coolness and dash in both trench and open warfare have been exemplary, and invariably he has shown himself ready to volunteer for tasks in the most difficult situation and at great danger to himself. Whenever communications have been totally disrupted at a critical moment in a battle, it has been thanks to Hitler’s unflagging and devoted efforts that important messages have continued to get through despite every difficulty. Hitler received the Iron Cross Second Class for gallant conduct during the fighting at Wytschaete on 1 Dec. 1914. [He] fully deserves to be awarded the Iron Cross First Class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 19 June , 2020 Share Posted 19 June , 2020 Excellent research, thank you. It seems that there is a St Agnan close to Soissons so presumably that matches the facts that have emerged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikereme Posted 19 June , 2020 Author Share Posted 19 June , 2020 Just a thought...i was told in the past...that AH....painted/drawn a sunken road (croonaert wood)....if this is the case....is there any drawing of the sunken road? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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