The Medal Bar of General KC Recipient Friedrich Wihelm Neumann; Commander of the 712th Infantry Division

Iron Cross Second Class 1939 (Silver frame, with iron core) with Clasp to the Iron Cross Second Class; First Type in silvered tombac, with all four prongs securely embedded within medal bar; Hamburg Hanseaten Cross in silvered bronze, 40.2 mm; 1914-1918 Hindenburg Cross in bronzed iron, marked on reverse; Twenty Five Year Wehrmacht Long Service Cross in fire gilt tombac; Twelve Year Wehrmacht Long Service Medal in fire gilt fine zinc; 1914-1918 Commemorative Medal of the Central Powers in bronze; Hungarian 1914-1918 Commemorative Medal in silvered zinc; and 1915-1918 Hungarian Service Medal in fire gilt fine zinc; all as originally mounted and worn by Neumann with swing pinback exhibiting signs of wear however is solid and strong. An Excellent Medal Bar as worn and in extremely fine condition. (Please note the images depicted are modern prints rather than original period photographs) Footnote: Born: January 22, 1889 in Osterrode, Eastern Prussia (now Ostróda, Poland) Died: January 27, 1975 in Bad Wiessee, Upper Bavaria On April 26th, 1906, Friedrich-Wilhelm Neumann joined the Prussian Army as a cadet with the 2. Ermlandisches Infanterie Regiment Nr. 151. He received his training at a military school in Danzig, and on November 18th, 1907, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. Subsequently, he was appointed as Company Officer of the 2. Ermlandisches Infanterie-Regiment No. 151. On October 1st, 1913, he was appointed as the company’s III Battalion Adjutant in Lensburg. On January 27th, 1915, he was promoted to Oberleutnant, and at the end of March 1915 he was appointed as the Regimental Adjutant of the 2. Ermlandissches Infaterie-Regiment No. 151. At the beginning of summer 1916, he joined the staff of Infantry Division No. 37 as an Orderly Officer. On April 18, 1918 he received yet another promotion and became a Captain in the Army. In August of 1917, he received the necessary training and became the 4th Army’s Generalstaboffizier. Neumann was wounded in the First World War and as a result he received a black wound badge, as well as I and II Class Iron Crosses. Following the end of the First World War, he spent a short period of time in the volunteer corps and in June of 1919, he became a Captain in the German Imperial Army. He then served as the Adjutant to the Infantry Commander of the Reichswehr Brigade, and in the spring of 1919 he served with the Übergangsheer (Transitional Army) as the Company Commander of the 40th Reichswehr Infantry Regiment. He was then transferred to Königsberg, where he became a member of the Heeresfriedenkommission, and in July 1921, he was appointed as Captain of the Schutzpolizei (uniformed police force) and was deployed to Gumbinnen. In 1922, he became the Leader of the mounted police force in Gumbinnen, and in September 1922, he was transferred to Goldap, where he became the leader of the Schutzpolizei. On April 1, 1924, he was transferred to Halle (Saale), and in 1925, he we transferred to a Police Academy in Eiche. In Eiche, he was promoted to Major of the Police Force, and at the beginning of 1930 he was transferred to Stettin. In March 1933, he obtained a position at the Prussian Ministry of the Interior, but in October 1933, he was transferred to a Police School in Potsdam-Eiche where he served as a tactics instructor. On November 9th, 1934, he was again transferred and he became part of the Border Police Regiment’s Staff. Following the onset of German rearmament in 1935, Neumann joined the Wehrmacht and quickly rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In April of 1938, Neumann was appointed as Commander of the 17th Infantry Regiment in Braunschweig. In 1939, the 17th Division participated in the Invasion of Poland, and Neumann won claps on both of his Iron Crosses for his exemplary leadership during the campaign. On February 1, 1939, he was tasked with acting as the leader for the 191st Division in Braunschweig, and on February 1, 1940, he was promoted to Major General. As a result, he was also appointed as Commander of the 191th Division in Braunschweig. In November 1940, he was appointed as the Commander of the 340th Infantry division. In May 1941, he was transferred to France, where his Division served with the occupying German forces in the Lille area. In June 1941, his Division was relocated to the Channel Coast near Calais, and on February 1st, 1942, he was promoted to the rank of General Lieutenant and transferred to Northern France. On March 1st. 1942, he relinquished his command of the 340th Infantry Division and was transferred to the Führerreserve, where he awaited a reassignment. In the middle of April 1942, he was appointed as the Commander of the 712th Infantry Division in Sens, and in June 1942 the Division was relocated to a coastal area between Terneuzenn and Blankenberge. His Division was charged with expanding the Atlantic Wall, and on October 30th, 1943, Neumann received the Deutsches Kreuz in silver for his leadership in this task. In January 1944, he was temporarily assigned with the leadership of the LXXXIX Army Corp in Antwerp. Afterwards, he once again reassumed his position with 712th Army Division. In September 1944, he was mentioned in the Wehrmacht Report for demonstrating bravery during the retreating battles following the invasion of Normandy. His division was responsible for destroying 161 Sherman tanks, for which he received the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross. At the end of November 1944, he temporarily served as the Commander of the XXX Army Corp, and afterwards he once again commanded the 712th Division. At the end of January 1945, he left his post on the Eastern Front and was again transferred to the Führerreserve, and on January 25, 1945, he was appointed as Commander of the Corps von Tettau, but the Corps was surrounded before he could assume the position. His last assignment was the General Command XXXIII Army Corp from April 5th, 1945, and the General Command of Trondheim from April 22, 1945, until the end of the war. With the capitulation of the Wehrmacht, Neumann was captured and would remain in various prison camps until the end of February 1948.