Gerhard Bremer

Gerhard Bremer was a Sturmbannführer (Storm Unit Leader/Major) in the Waffen SS who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. This was awarded for extreme bravery or personal leadership by Nazi Germany.

Early life
Bremer joined the SS at age nineteen (SS number 310405) and he was first assigned to the 3rd Battalion,  Germania Regiment.

In 1937 he was the commander of the SS officer school at Bad Tolz and in 1938 transferred to the LSSAH (Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler), and took command of the 10th Company.

World War II
He served in the Polish Campaign, the Battle of France and the Balkans. For his service in the Polish and Western campaigns he was awarded the Iron Cross both first and second class. After the end of the Balkan campaign Bremer was promoted to Obersturmführer (Senior Storm Leader/First Lieutenant) and was given command of the 1st Motor Cycle Company of the Reconnaissance Battalion. He was awarded the Knight's Cross in the early days of Operation Barbarossa the invasion of the Soviet Union. He stayed with the LSSAH until June 1943 when he was given the command of the 3rd Battalion of the 26th Panzer Grenadier Regiment in the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend. . In April 1944, he became the commander of the 12th SS Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion, in Belgium which covered the Division's left flank during the Normandy Invasion on the outskirts of Caen.

During the Normandy Invasion and the fighting against The Royal Winnipeg Rifles at Putot-en-Bessin, Bremer was reported to have taken part in the execution of 12 Canadian Prisoners. He was trapped with his Battalion in the Falaise Gap but was finally able to withdraw to the Maas, covering the retreat of the 5th Panzer Army for which he was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross.

He was next involved in the Ardennes Offensive and Operation Spring Awakening in Hungary in 1945 and ended the war in the area of St Poelten.

Post war
He was held as a prisoner of war by the French Government from July 1948 to 1954, when he was released he moved to Denia in Spain with his wife Almut and his son Gerd. Bremer died on 29 October 1989 in Alicante, Spain.

Awards

 * Iron Cross of 1939
 * 2nd Class (1 October 1939)
 * 1st Class (6 June 1940)
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (30 October 1942)
 * Infantry Assault Badge in Bronze (26 June 1942)
 * Eastern Front Medal 1941/42 (21 September 1942)
 * Wound Badge in Silver (25 November 1943)
 * German Cross in Gold (30 AUgust 1944)
 * Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross (26 November 1944)