The middle oldest of three brothers. His father was a professor at the Heidelberg University and mother was a housewife. As a child Wilhelm loved playing around the old Heidelberg castle, swimming in the river Neckar, doing Volks marches in the surrounding mountains with his brothers and friends. He also loved going through the town of Heidelberg and seeing the many businesses/stores and dreamed of owning his own.

Also his past time hobbies were reading books and as he got older riding his beloved Zündapp motorcycle around the neighboring towns and mountains in the area, which he bought from doing various salesman jobs for local businesses. After finishing high school Wilhelm joined the Reichsarbeitsdienst in 1935. During his time in service with the RAD he meet his future wife who was serving in the BDM. While serving in the RAD, Wilhelm worked with the RAD and University of Heidelberg students to build a huge amphitheatre, called "Thingstätte", located on the Heiligenberg north of the old part of Heidelberg for the NSDAP and SS events.

He was very impressed with the SS that after his service with the RAD he decided to join the SS-VT in 1937. Because of his height, blonde hair and blue eyes he was enlisted to the famed LSSAH infantry regiment. Wilhelm participated in the occupation of the Sudetenland, which is where his family originated from before migrating to Deutschland in the mid-1800's. During the invasion of Poland Wilhelm was with the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler and was involved in several ferocious battles against Polish cavalry brigades attempting to attack the flanks of the German advance. With the Polish feldzug ended the LSSAH in early 1940 was expanded into a full independent motorized infantry regiment. He served in the invasion of France and Low Countries in May of 1940 and awarded the Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen im Bronze.

Being stationed in France after the feldzug Wilhelm heard from his parents that a Jewish childhood friend was rounded up by the local police and sent to a concentration camp in France in October 1940. Through SS channels he was successful in getting him and his family released. The childhood friend was very grateful and on the advice of Wilhelm the family left Deutschland. During early months of 1941 Wilhelm was trained to drive an Sd.Kfz 250 and various Krads and was able to receive his SS Drivers license and promoted to SS-Sturmann. Because of his vehicle training he was not deployed until the later part of the invasion of Greece and was able to be with the LSSAH in the victory parade through Athens.

Awarded the Ostfront Medaille after the brutal winter of 1941-42 and promoted to SS-Rottenfuhrer in June of 1942 and attached to dispatched riders and assigned to ride a KS600 Zündapp. The KS600 was his favorite and the best he had driven, which reminded him of his Zündapp that he owned before the war. Wilhelm was attacked many times dispatching on the krad by Russian partisans (terrorists) and managed to escape every time. Took part in Kursk, transferred to Italy and then Normandy.