Kursk,
Hitler was promoted to the rank of a Gefreiter with the date of 1. November 1914.
He got the Iron Cross II.class at 2. Dezember 1914, the bavarian MVO III.class 1917, the wound badge in black in 1918 and the iron cross I.class at 4. August 1918.
The german imperial army and the later Wehrmacht too did not have an automatic promotion for soldiers KIA. Promotion for KIA's were possible, but not automatically. For example, the cusin of my grandmother was killed in action as an Oberst and was after that promoted to a general and decorated with the ritterkreuz (post mortem).
During WWI, six members of my family, three officers and three enlisted men, were killed in action without any promotion.
Hope, that helps.
Kolibri
