Adolf Breuer was born on the 10th of November 1894 in Kripp, a village near Remagen in Rheinland Pfalz.

He joined the Army as an Ersatz Rekrut on the 15th of October 1914 starting his service in the 1. Ersatz Bataillon of the Reserve Infanterie Regiment 25. A month later he was transferred to the Feld Infanterie Bataillon 37, then on the 26th of December 1914 to the 11. Kompagnie of  the Infantrie Regiment 68 which was engaged in the Champagne sector.

On the 26th of December 1914 he went into the line for the first time and fought in the last days of the battle at Souain, Perthes les Hurlus and Beausejour. (1st battle of Perthes). The Battle ended on the 30th of December after which the Regiment stayed in position and was engaged in positional warfare. On the 8th-13th of January 1915 they fought in the 2nd Battle at Perthes, then the 3rd and 4th Battles of Perthes in February. The Regiment remained in the Champagne until April when it was withdrawn from the line to recuperate before joining the Battle at La Bassee and Arras from the 12th of May – 19th June 1915.

On the 8th of June 1915 Adolf Breuer was wounded in the face and was sent to a hospital close to Bad Homburg. He stayed there from the 10th of June until the 2nd of July 1915.

On the 2nd of July 1915 until the 9th of April 1916 he was attached to the Ersatz Bataillon of the I.R. 68 where he was probably involved in training recruits.

In early 1916 the Sturmbataillon Rohr was about to be enlarged. Musketier Adolf Breuer was sent as a replacement troop to the Pionier Ersatz Bataillon Nr. 35. The Erstaz Battalion served as the replacement depot of the Sturmbataillon Rohr.

The now “Pionier” Adolf Breuer’s stay at the 35. Pionier Bataillon seems to have been an administrative formality as he was already on the roll of the 4th Sturm-Kompagnie by the 10th of April 1916.

On the 19th of April he started his career as a Stormtrooper.

Above: Adolf Breuer's Militärpass. Originally an Infantry Pass with a blue cover, it has had a pink Pionier cover added. The entries unfortunately do not list all the individual actions.

His battle pages with the Sturmbataillon are as follows

19th  of April until the 13th of May 1917 “Kämpfe und Stürm bei Verdun”
15th of May until 27th of May 1917 “Doppelschlacht Aisne-Champagne"
28th of May until 2nd of July 1917 “Stellungskämpfe Chemain des Dames”
3rd of July until 18th of July 1917 “Kämpfe bei Verdun”

In addition to numerous smaller actions the 4. Komp had helped take the Caillette-Wald at the beginning of June 1916, at Fleury and in the Chapitrewald-Wald towards the end of June and in the Froideterre/Kalte Erde  sector in late July.

The 4. Kompagnie was then chosen to demonstrate Sturmtrupp tactics to the Kaiser at Doncourt on the 14th of August 1916, at which time Breuer was decorated by the Kaiser with the Iron Cross 2nd Class. See HERE

On the 17th of August 1916 he was promoted to Gefreiter

On the 6th of November 1916 he was promoted to Unteroffizier.

In May of 1917 the 4. and 3. Komp. were sent to the Champagne to support the Germans in their counter attacks. They fell under the command of the 7. Sturmbataillon. The 4. Kompagnie had fought on the Chemain des Dames, on the Winterberg and at Vauxeillon. See HERE

Above: The Unteroffiziere of the 4. Sturm Komp. in a quiet moment behind the frontline. Adolf Breuer is bottom left with the cane in his hand.

The award of the Iron Cross 1st class followed on the 1st of July 1917, just before the Kompagnie left the Champagne sector to rejoin the Sturmbataillon Rohr at Verdun..

On the 3rd of July the 4. Komp returned to Verdun and on the 18th of July 1917 Breuer was sent to the Field Hospital at Pierrepont. There is no mention of a physical wound in the Militärpass. On the 24th of July he was transferred to a hospital in Trier then was sent back to the Recovery company of the Pionier Ersatz Bataillon Nr. 35.

He stayed in the recovery company until mid April 1918 when he was sent to work in the Rhein-Metalwerke und Maschinenfabrik in Dusseldorf.

He was working here when the war came to an end.

In the 1930s Adolf Breuer was a fireman in Düsseldorf with the rank of “Oberfeuerwehrmann”, he was married with 2 children.


To return to the page on Sturmbataillon Rohr, please click HERE