| Hitler and his comrade soldiers in Fournes en Weppes, September 1916. Meldegänger (“Messenger”) Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) was assigned to the 1st Company of Bayerisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment.16. Other members of this regiment included Meldegänger Hans Mend (March 16, 1888 – February 13, 1942) and Feldwebel Max Amann (November 24, 1891 – March 30, 1957). 1st row, Left to right: Adolf Hitler; On November 1, 1914, he was promoted to Private and on December 2, 1914, he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class. A shell exploded on October 2, 1916, wounding Schmidt and Hitler. Hitler spent 2 months in Beelitz Hospital, and wrote to Amann to see if he could use his influence to be reassigned to his regiment, his “elective family.” On August 4, 1917, he was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class upon the recommendation of Hugo Gutmann (November 19, 1880 – June 22, 1962), a Jew, for stringing communications wire under fire. After Hitler was gassed in October 1918, he returned to Munich. Meldegänger Balthasar Brandmayer (September 15, 1892 – January 23, 1960), from Bad Aibling, was a bricklayer before World War I. Brandmayer wrote a book about his experiences with Hitler in 1932. He joined the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP – “National Socialist German Workers’ Party”) Member Number 916444, in 1932. Brandmayer was given 5,000 Reichsmarks by Hitler in 1937. He returned to bricklaying after 1945. Meldegänger Anton Bachmann (1895 – August 12, 1917) was an apprentice merchant before the war. Bachmann was assigned with Hitler starting on November 10, 1914. They were in the Beelitz Military Hospital together in October 1916. Transferred to Romania on May 8, 1917, he was killed in action at the Battle of Ungureano. The white English Terrier “Foxl,” Hitler’s treasured dog. disappeared on a train in September 1917. Hitler later claimed a train conductor offered him 200 Reichsmarks for the dog, and then Foxl was gone. His regiment had to move on and Hitler couldn’t look for him. 25 years later, Hitler was still angry and complaining about Foxl’s disappearance, calling the train conductor “swine.” Meldegänger Max Mund (1893 – 1952) joined the Regiment on May 20, 1915. He was gassed on October 5, 1916, and sent to the Gera Reserve Hospital, where he convalesced until November 18, 1916. Due to his poor health, he was subsequently discharged from military service on July 16, 1917. 2nd row: Ernst Schmidt (December 16, 1889 – 1985) was Hitler’s closest wartime companion. He arrived at the Western Front on October 21, 1914. In November 1914, Schmidt and Hitler were assigned to Regimental Headquarters as runners. This afforded them more freedom of movement than other soldiers. A shell exploded on October 2, 1916, wounding Schmidt and Hitler. Hitler spent 2 months in Beelitz Hospital, and wrote to Amann to see if he could use his influence to be reassigned to his regiment, his “elective family.” After Hitler was gassed in October 1918, they both returned to Munich. They worked as laborers and attended opera. Schmidt joined the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (DAP – “German Workers’ Party”) in 1920 and the Sturm Abteilung (SA) in 1931. Schmidt and Hitler returned to Fournes en Weppes after the Fall of France in 1940. Johann Sperl (1881 – 1962) joined the Regiment on May 22, 1915. He later claimed that Hitler ran messages for him, since he had 5 children. He was demobilized in November 12, 1918. He joined the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei in 1933. Hitler got him a job at the Munich State Surveying Office when he was unemployed. He was an unskilled laborer after the war. Jakob “Jackl” Weiß (1892 – 1944) was a farmer before the war. He joined the Regiment on January 4, 1915. He left the Regiment on September 29, 1918. After the war, he became Burgomeister of his village Post Office in 1928, and was proud of his connection to the Führer. The Nazi press played up his affection to create the mythology of Hitler’s war experience. He joined the NSDAP in 1933. Karl Tiefenböck (1894-1969) was a clerk before the war. He was transferred to the Regimental Headquarters on April 24, 1915. Tiefenböck was later promoted to Gefreiter. After the war, he was an office manager and joined the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei in 1919. In 1933, he presented Hitler with a photo album from the war. Hitler and the Nazis mythologized his wartime experience. Despite horrific casualties on the Western Front, virtually everyone on the Headquarters communications staff survived – a virtual 100 percent survival rate. While there was danger, this experience made war much less visceral to Hitler, especially as time and memory became mythology. This would have dire consequences for the nation of Germany and Europe as a whole. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0802.jpg |
| Image Size | 856.78 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2904 x 2004 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Office of War Information |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | September 1, 2016 |
| Location | |
| City | |
| State or Province | |
| Country | France |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-208-PU-93Y(4) |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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