Born: December 11, 1916, Wesel, Germany
Died: January 4, 1945, Budapest, Hungary
Award: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Unit: 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf
Battles and wars: World War II
Service/branch: Waffen-SS
Rank: Sturmbannführer
Meierdrees was born in Wesel in Rhenish Prussia into a middle class family. His father was a Customs Tariff Secretary. When the Nazi Party came to power in 1933, Meierdrees was still in school. He joined the Hitlerjugend when all Scout organizations were dissolved and replaced by the Nazi-run organization. As soon as he was old enough, Meierdrees applied for NSDAP membership, which he was granted on 4 April 1934 (Nr.3 601 911). Soon after, he applied to join the SS, to which he was admitted on 1 August 1934 (Nr.265 243). He was posted to the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, the SS' élite guard formation, serving as an enlisted man.
In April 1938, Meierdrees was given the opportunity to attend the SS-Junkerschule (the SS officer training school) at Braunschweig. He performed well during the intensive study and training, showing particular interest in the artillery and panzer parts of the course. On 20 April 1939, he graduated as an SS-Untersturmführer (Second Lieutenant) specializing in artillery. On 1 May 1939, he was posted to command of a platoon in the 13th (Infantry gun) company of the newly formed SS-Standarte Der Führer.
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