A collection of award certificates for soldier Willi (also spelled Willy) Blume, including: Iron Cross 2nd Class, 139x200mm, extremely fine condition with two punched holes and two stapled holes; Panzer Badge in Bronze, 208x148mm, very fine condition with frayed edges and two punched holes; Eastern Front Medal, 140x200mm, better than very fine condition, with two punched holes and several brown spots; Wound Badge in Black, 140x200mm, extremely fine with two punched holes and two stapled holes; Driver’s Licence 3rd Class, 210x148mm, extremely fine with two punched holes and folding creases.
Obergefreiter (Senior Lance Corporal) Willy Blume was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class at the Division’s Command Post on December 31, 1941. He served in the 2nd Company of the Schützen Regiment 59, part of the 20th Panzer Division, which fought in Russia. In late 1941, it was part of the ultimately failed attempt to attack Moscow. The document is signed in blue crayon by Major General and Division Commander Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma.
Gefreiter (Lance Corporal) Willi Blume was awarded the Panzer Badge in Bronze. He was already part of the 2nd Company of the Schützen Regiment 59. At this time, the 20th Panzer Division was involved in fights north of Smolensk. The document is dated to Russia, August 17, 1941, and signed in purple crayon by Colonel Georg von Bismarck.
Obergefreiter Blume was awarded the Eastern Front Medal (Medaille Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42) on September 1, 1942. He was still part of the Schützen Regiment 59, however, it had been renamed to Panzergrenadier-Ersatz-
Blume was awarded the Wound Badge in Black on January 28, 1942, as part of the Schützen Regiment 59. The document is dated to Metz, France, on June 6, 1942, and is signed in black ink by the Senior Army Doctor and Commander of the Medical Orderly Detachment Metz. The signature is indecipherable.
Blume passed his driving test 3rd class on May 26, 1941. This is being certified by the army duty station in Hildesheim on March 18, 1944. Blume was born on February 14, 1919 in Vienenburg, Lower Saxony. The document is signed by proxy, the signature is indecipherable.
Von Thoma served in the First World War in the Bavarian Army and was awarded the Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order, which was the highest bravery decoration in the Bavarian Army. This is also when he was awarded the noble title of Ritter.
He fought as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) as Commander of the ground troops of the Condor Legion, for which he was awarded the Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords and Diamonds. His legion was infamous for inventing the terror bombing strategy, resulting in the bombing of Guernica. During the Second World War, after serving on the Eastern Front, von Thoma was transferred to North Africa in late 1942, where he fought in the Second Battle of El Alamein. He was captured and spend the remainder of the war as a British P.O.W. He wasn’t aware that he was under surveillance, which lead to a discussion with another German officer about a rocket developing program at Kummersdorf West, including the V-1 flying bomb and the V-2 weapons program. The British then bombed the facilities, seriously disrupting the program’s development. Rudolf August Demme (1894–1975) was a recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. He fought in the First World War, and trained troops for the infamous Condor Legion that fought in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). During the Second World War, he lead troops in the fights at the Eastern Front. At the end of the war, he held the rank of Major General and, among other decorations, had received a German Cross in Gold and a Wound Badge in Gold. Georg von Bismarck (1891–1942) was a recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross. He served under Rommel in France and later again in Africa. During Operation Barbarossa, he briefly commanded the 20th Panzer Division from September to October 1941. Von Bismarck was posthumously promoted to Lieutenant General.