Editing Helmut Schmidt (section)

== Military service ==
Schmidt had planned to study without interruption. Therefore, he [[Military volunteer|volunteered]] at age 18 for military service in 1937. He began serving with an [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft]] battery of [[Luftwaffe]] at [[Vegesack]] near [[Bremen]].

In [[World War II]], after brief service on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] during the [[Operation Barbarossa|invasion of the Soviet Union]] in 1941 (including the [[Siege of Leningrad]]), he returned to Germany in 1942 to work as a trainer and advisor at the [[Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany)|Ministry of Aviation]].<ref name="Lebendiges Museum Online"/> During his service in World War II, Schmidt was awarded the [[Iron Cross]] 2nd Class.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hsb.ub.hsu-hh.de/free/530569175.pdf |title=Verleihung der Ehrendoktorwürde der Johns-Hopkins-Universität; Laudatio verlesen von Harry W o o l f bei der Überreichung des Grades eines Doktors der Rechtswissenschaften an Bundeskanzler Helmut Schmidt am 16. Juli 1976 |access-date=2009-03-20 |last=Woolf |first=Harry |date=1976-07-16 |language=de |quote=Bundeskanzler Schmidt wurde 1918 in Hamburg als Sohn eines Lehrers geboren. Er besuchte die fortschrittliche Lichtwarkschule, wo er auch seine zukünftige Frau Hannelore kennenlernte. Im Zweiten Weltkrieg gehörte er einer Flak-Einheit an, wurde mit dem Eisernen Kreuz ausgezeichnet und geriet gegen Ende des Krieges in britische Gefangenschaft |archive-date=2009-03-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325172030/http://hsb.ub.hsu-hh.de/free/530569175.pdf }}</ref>

He attended the [[People's Court (Germany)|People's Court]] as a military spectator at some of the show trials for officers involved in the [[20 July plot]], in which an unsuccessful attempt was made to assassinate [[Hitler]] at [[Rastenburg]], and was disgusted by Judge [[Roland Freisler]]'s conduct.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/politische-buecher/helmut-schmidt-vom-oberleutnant-zum-soldatenkanzler-13323194.html |title=Helmut Schmidt: Vom Oberleutnant zum Soldatenkanzler |access-date=2015-11-12 |last=Wolffsohn |first=Michael |newspaper=Faz.net |date=2014-12-15 |language=de}}</ref>

Toward the end of the war, from December 1944 onwards, he served as an [[Oberleutnant]] in the [[Flak]] artillery on the [[Western Front (World War II)|Western Front]] during the [[Battle of the Bulge]] and the [[Ardennes Offensive]]. He was captured by the British in April 1945 on [[Lüneburg Heath]], and was a [[prisoner of war]] until August of that year in [[Belgium]].<ref>The Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 11 November 2015, Obituary [paper only], p.31</ref> In 1958 Schmidt was promoted to [[Hauptmann]] of the [[Bundeswehr]] reserve.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Noack |first=Hans-Joachim |title=Helmut Schmidt: die Biographie |date=2008 |publisher=Rowohlt |isbn=978-3-87134-566-1 |edition=1. Aufl |location=Berlin |oclc=244654452}}</ref>