Adolf Hitler

Although Austrian, Adolf Hitler enlisted with the German Army as a volunteer in 1914.
He joined the 16th Bavarian Infantry Regiment, known as the List Regiment after its first colonel, Julius List. He arrived at the front in Lille in October 1914 where he was temporarily quartered in the new Chamber of Commerce, then under construction. He then served as a message-runner between the regimental commander based in Wavrin and the trenches at Fromelles. Never really experiencing action on the front line, he was regarded by his comrades as a Rückschein, a skiver sitting out the war behind the front.
Very few veterans of the List Regiment rallied to the Nazi cause in the 1930s.
He was wounded at the Somme in 1916 and returned to Fromelles in 1917.
In 1918, he was awarded the Iron Cross which was presented to him in person by his officer, of the Jewish faith. He was gassed on the hill at Wervicq, called "La Montagne", outside the white château. Adolf Hitler was quartered in Fournes-en-Weppes at the Cardon butchery and, during his rest periods, in Haubourdin at the Duquesnoy butchery. He spent his leisure time painting.
Adolf Hitler re-visited the Fromelles sector in 1940.