Wilhelm Walther (right) as head of the defence department of the Dresden student body for the Gymnastics Festival in Stuttgart, July 1933. The duelling scar, a result of "academic fencing", was a mark of honour among the social elite. Years later Walther would received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 24 June 1940 as Oberleutnant and Stosstruppführer in 4.Kompanie / Baulehrbataillon z.b.V. 800. Awarded for capturing a strategic bridge at Gennep during the assault on the Netherlands. Leading an 8-man team disguised as Dutch military police escorting German prisoners, they made their assault seizing the bridge and disabling the detonators.
Source :
"Brandenburger: Wartime Photographs of Wilhelm Walther" by Anthony Rogers
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