Wilhelm Heinrich Ludwig Bredemeier
Date of Birth: 19.01.1916 - Herford, Nordrhein-Westfalen (German Empire)
Date of Death: 04.06.1995 - Lindenberg im Allgäu, Bayern (Germany)
Wife: Annemarie Münch (married 19.06.1942)
Campaigns: Invasion of Poland (1939), Battle of France (1940), Invasion of Yugoslavia (1941), Operation Barbarossa (1941), Battle of Uman (1941), and Battle of the Caucasus (1942-1944)
Promotions:
01.10.1938 Gefreiter
01.10.1939 Unteroffizier
01.09.1941 Feldwebel
01.01.1943 Oberfeldwebel
17.01.1957 Oberfeldwebel (Bundeswehr, with RDA from 01.01.1957)
15.05.1959 Hauptfeldwebel (Bundeswehr, with RDA from 01.03.1959)
Career:
05.11.1937 joined the Wehrmacht as a member of 15.Kompanie / Infanterie-Regiment 91
02.06.1942 Zugführer in 12.Kompanie (MG) / Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 91 / 4.Gebirgs-Division
28.08.1942 wounded in the battle of Caucasus
26.11.1943 wounded again and transferred to a military hospital
18.02.1944 2.Genesenden-Kompanie / Gebirgsjäger-Ersatz-Bataillon 99 in Sonthofen
09.05.1945 - 03.07.1945 POW of the Americans and held in the Weiden
camp in the Upper Palatinate
03.09.1956 joined the Bundeswehr as a member of Gebirgsjäger-Bataillon 104 in Mittenwald
01.01.1957 transferred to 3.Kompanie / Gebirgsjäger-Bataillon 8 in Mittenwald
16.10.1957 - 15.03.1959 Gebirgs- und Winterkampfschule Mittenwald-Karwendel
16.12.1957 - 10.10.1958 took his Führerschein der Klasse B driving license
16.03.1959 Lehrgruppe W der Infanterieschule Mittenwald
01.12.1960 Lehrgruppe Geb.W.
01.02.1963 Hauptfeldwebel in Kampftruppenschule IV in Mittenwald-Luttensee
01.04.1968 Kreiswehrersatzamt Kempten der Reserve III
08.05.1970 - 06.06.1970 compulsory military exercise at VKK 613 in Kaufbeuren
31.03.1968 retired
Awards and Decorations:
16.07.1940 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
12.07.1941 Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen in Silber
19.12.1941 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
08.03.1942 Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz
17.03.1942 Bulgarian Soldier's Cross of the Military Order "For Bravery", 3rd Class
01.09.1942 Medaille "Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42" (Ostmedaille)
09.11.1942 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, as Feldwebel and Zugführer in 12.Kompanie (Maschinengewehr) / III.Bataillon / Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 91 / 4.Gebirgs-Division. The following press article describes why Bredemeier was awarded the Ritterkreuz: "During the mountain combat in the Caucasus in 1942 the vanguard of a Kampfgruppe received the order to take control of an important pass. Feldwebel Bredemeier’s Zug was sent ahead as the lead unit. During the morning hours Feldwebel Bredemeier and a few Jäger reached the point that was thought to be the pass position following a very difficult climb. However he immediately ascertained that the actual pass was still more than a kilometre away from the reached position. It was known that a Russian force of 400-500 men was approaching the pass from the south. Without hesitation he resolved to immediately thrust to the pass despite the exhausted state of his Jäger in order to prevent the enemy from establishing themselves there. However he and his men would have to make it there at top speed. Along with two squads from his Zug, he rushed up the steep slope and reached the pass. But from here it could be seen that an approximately 400 metre ridge that fell steeply to either side led from the pass towards the south. It was therefore necessary to also occupy this ridge. Feldwebel Bredemeier clashed with the enemy just a few steps away from the end of the ridge. The Jäger proceeded to struggle with the enemy over control of the hill for several hours with machine-pistols and hand grenades while under the inspiring leadership of their Feldwebel. They did this until friendly reinforcements from the Kompanie arrived. During the following night the Bolsheviks utilized a sudden burst of rain to gain a foothold on the ridge under the cover of darkness. However it was once again Feldwebel Bredemeier who threw himself with his few Jäger against the enemy, forcing them off the ridge in a bitter man-to-man fight. The fighting then continued for another 6 days and nights, until the enemy finally gave up. The occupation of this pass and ridge was of decisive importance for the operations of the Kampfgruppe. If the Soviets had managed to bring both terrain features into their possession then the entire forward advance of the Gruppe would have been cast into doubt, and at the same time a danger would have existed that our friendly forces further to the east might have been cut off. However this outcome was prevented thanks to the determined action and personal bravery of Feldwebel Bredemeier.” The aforementioned action took place on the 28.08.1942 at the Bgalar Pass and the nearby mountain ridge. From here it was only a 22 km straight line distance to the Black Sea.
28.01.1944 Nahkampfspange in Bronze
16.12.1960 Deutsches Sportabzeichen in Gold
04.10.1967 Verwundetenabzeichen in Silber
16.11.1967 Schützenschnur in Bronze
01.12.1967 Schützenschnur in Gold
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Wilhelm Heinrich Ludwig Bredemeier was born on January 19th, 1916 in Herford as the son of the carpenter Wilhelm Bredemeier. He then attended the elementary and trade school in Herford, passed a journeyman's examination in the carpentry trade at the Wilhelm Johstmeyer company in Herford, graduated from 1 October 1936 to 24 March 1937 his work service in Neubeckum i.W., last as a foreman and joined the Wehrmacht on 5 November 1937.
At first he belonged to the Infantry Regiment 91 in Lindau i.B. with which he took part in the Polish campaign. During the subsequent campaign in France he was promoted to corporal and awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and then moved with his regiment to the Truppenübungsplatz Heuberg near Ulm, where it was expanded in the course of the conversion of the 27th Infantry Division and 17th Panzer Division left the association and was renamed as Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 91. This brought Bredemeier as a mountain trooper. His brother Walter was killed during the French campaign. Wilhelm also had two sisters.
The Balkan campaign then followed, where Bredemeier earned the Infantry Assault Badge.
According to a report dated June 2, 1941, he moved from the 15th (staff) company of the Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 91 to the 12th company of the regiment, which belonged to the 4th Mountain Division. After the start of the campaign in the east, in which Bredemeier had previously been on the Iron Death in Serbia, he was nearly killed in February 1942 near Krasnyluz by shrapnel on the left side of his chest after heavy advance fighting in the Ukraine, where the wounded warrior earned the Iron Cross 1st Class. A short time later he married Annemarie Münch on June 19, 1942 and moved to his wife's place at Annaberg in the Ore Mountains.
As a platoon commander in the 12th company, he took part in the heavy fighting in the Caucasus. There, on August 28, 1942, the vanguard of a battle group received the order to secure the important Bgalar Pass. The bredemeier platoon was sent ahead as the head of this vanguard. At dawn, Bredemeier and some fighters, after a difficult ascent, arrived at the point that was given to him as the destination. Here, however, he realized that the pass was only a kilometer to the south. Bredemeier knew that the enemy, with a strength of up to 500 men, was also marching towards the pass, so Bredemeier decided without hesitation, despite the fatigue of his comrades, to advance to the pass and get it into his own hands as quickly as possible.
With two groups of his platoon he continued the ascent, reached the pass and saw that from the pass there was a ridge about 400 meters long, dropping abruptly on both sides, which also had to be manned. Shortly before the end of the ridge, Bredemeier clashed with the opponent. In the next few hours the battle raged, fought with MPi and hand grenades, until finally reinforcements from their own company arrived. The following night, in pouring rain, the enemy attacked again and finally gained a foothold on the ridge. Here, too, Bredemeier counterattacked and drove the enemy off the crest. Only after six days and nights did the enemy give up his efforts to get possession of the ridge or the pass. The possession of the crest was of paramount importance for further operations. With Bredemeier's victory, Sukhumi on the Black Sea was only 22 kilometers away as the crow flies. Bredemeier received the Knight's Cross on November 9, 1942, as a sergeant and platoon commander in the 12th (MG) company of the 91st Mountain Jaeger Regiment. On the occasion of the award, Bredemeier received home leave and arrived in Annaberg on December 17, 1942. A reception was prepared in his honor on December 22, 1942, at which he signed the city's golden book.
Shortly thereafter, on November 26, 1943, he was wounded again and transferred to a military hospital. From there he was sent to the 2nd convalescent company of the 99th Mountain Hunter Replacement Battalion in Sonthofen with a report dated February 18, 1944. There he is then deployed as part of the Gneisenau combat group in the Omütz-Sillein area.
He was taken prisoner by the Americans on May 9th, 1945 and held in the Weiden camp in the Upper Palatinate. He was released on July 3rd, 1945.
After the war, Bredemeier joined the 104th Mountain Jaeger Battalion in Mittenwald on September 3rd, 1956 and switched to the 3rd company of the 8th Mountain Jaeger Battalion in Mittenwald on January 1st, 1957. From October 16, 1957 to March 15, 1959 at the mountain and winter combat school in Mittenwald-Karwendel, Bredemeier took his class B driving license from December 16, 1957 to October 10, 1958 and came to teaching group W at the Mittenwald Infantry School on March 16, 1959. On December 1st, 1960 he switched to the teaching group Geb.W. and on 02/01/1963 as a sergeant at Combat Troops School IV in Mittenwald-Luttensee. Assigned to Reserve III on April 1, 1968 by the district military replacement office in Kempten. until 06.06.1970 a compulsory military exercise at VKK 613 as a main sergeant of the reserve in Kaufbeuren. He is released into retirement on March 31, 1968.
Wilhelm Bredemeier, never a member of the NSDAP or its branches, died on June 4th, 1995 in Lindenberg im Allgäu.
Oberfeldwebel Wilhelm Bredemeier in a Hoffmann postcard.
Source :
https://www.generalassaultmilitaria.com/product/heer-gebirgsjager-knights-cross-portrait-wilhelm-bredemeier/
https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Wilhelm_Bredemeier
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/46495/Bredemeier-Wilhelm.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20110105150927fw_/http://ritterkreuztraeger-1939-45.de/Infanterie/B/Br/Bredemeier-Wilhelm.htm
https://www.weitze.com/militaria/35/Heer_Originalunterschrift_von_Ritterkreuztraeger_Oberfeldwebel_Wilhelm_Bredemeier__303835.html
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