Battle of the Somme Beelitz Battle of Arras Battle of Passchendaele Black Wound Badge Hugo Gutmann Gefreiter mustard gas Pasewalk Iron Cross de Jewish Germany runner
During his service at headquarters, Hitler pursued his artwork, drawing cartoons and instructions for an army newspaper. During the Battle of the Somme in October 1916, he was wounded in the left thigh when a shell exploded in the dispatch runners' dugout. Hitler spent almost two months recovering in hospital at Beelitz, returning to his regiment on 5 March 1917. He was present at the Battle of Arras of 1917 and the Battle of Passchendaele. He received the Black Wound Badge on 18 May 1918 and in August 1918, on a recommendation by Lieutenant Hugo Gutmann, his Jewish superior, Hitler received the Iron Cross, First Class, a decoration rarely awarded to one of Hitler's Gefreiter rank. On 15 October 1918, he was temporarily blinded in a mustard gas attack and was hospitalised in Pasewalk. While there, Hitler learned of Germany's defeat, and – by his own account – upon receiving this news, suffered a second bout of blindness.
