Hello fellows,
This is the latest addition in my Soldbuch collection and because today it is exactly 69 years that this sergeant got KIA it seemed a good idea to post it here.
Karl Herrmann (°1915) from Genkingen, he was gunner in 10th battery of Artillery Regiment 260 (260ID).
When the war broke out his unit was placed on the Oberrhein facing the French in their Maginot line fortresses; when operation yellow started they remained in OKH reserve but during the second phase of the Westfeldzug (operation red) they fired their first shots in anger.
In the summer of 1940 his unit gets a new name it becomes IV/Schwere Art Abt 260 (mot), in January the name is changed again it then becomes Schw Art Abt 847 and finally in November '41 it becomes II/Art Rgt 128, a part of the 23 Pz Div.
In the meanwhile he has been promoted to sergeant and now that he is serving on the eastern front with the 23 Pz Div of the 6th Army the war becomes very serious for him; in May '42 they are fighting for control over the city Charkow.
On May 16 1942 he gets wounded by a piece of shrapnel, six days later he is back with his field unit; there he gets a wounded badge in black and in July '42 an EKII.
On September 10 1942 he gets hit again by shrapnel, this time a more serious, he remains in various hospitals to recover until June 17 1943, while he recovers he also gets treated for tonsillitis.
After he is discharged from hospital he is transferred to Reserve Art Abt 260, part of the 155 Reserve Panzer Division based in Southern France; in April '44 his unit is used to rebuild Panzer Artillery Regiment 102 of the 9 Pz Div.
He stays with this unit only a short while, a few weeks later he joins the second battery of the SS Pz Art Rgt 1 "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler".
Now his story is becoming very interesting, from this Soldbuch I can't tell if he volunteered for service in the Waffen SS or that he was drafted in to fill up the heavy losses they has sustained in the east; his rank is changed in to the Waffen SS equivalent SS Scharführer.
With the aid of the control stamps we can see that he was on June 1 1944 indeed with the 2nd Battery and thus saw action in Normandy.
After the retreat out of France his unit starts to prepare for A.Hitlers last gamble, operation Wach am Rhein, their is a prominent role for laid away for the men of the Leibstandarte, their division is organized in different Kampfgruppen (mixed highly mobile fighting units), their task is to breakthrough the allied frontline and in Blitzkrieg fashion to cross the Meuse river and to retake the Antwerp harbor.
In November '44 Karl Herrmann gets a new 08 pistol, a MP40 and a compass, this suggests that he is a field gun commander in his battery.
- Notice that their is some confusion to which Kampfgruppe the 2nd Battery belonged, one source place them with KG Knittel others with KG Peiper, the most recent sources place them with Kampfgruppe Peiper though.
I will write this posting with for me the most recent information but I keep on checking and should it change again I'll alter it accordingly.
Kampfgruppe Peiper is perhaps the most famous German fighting unit of the battle of the bulge, famous is perhaps the wrong word they are more infamously known for the execution of American POW's and Belgian civilians.
In this posting I'am not going to write the entire well known history of the KG Peiper in December '44, I'll limit it to the day when Karl Herrmann got KIA.
On the morning of December 23 '44 things look bleak for the men of KG Peiper, their advance has been halted in the Ambleve valley in the hamlets Stoumont and Habiemont, even worse the day before the Americans have managed to blow up the bridge in Stavelot and thus they can't retreat the same way they came, they are virtually surrounded by ever growing American forces.
The artillery of the KG is placed in Cheneux and in the morning lays a heavy barrage on the US troops that are attacking the Waffen SS troops in Stoumont.
In the afternoon the paratroopers of the 504 PIR manage to retake Cheneux, the fighting is fierce, close combat fighting in the houses of the hamlet.
On December 23 '44 the US troops come out on top, they not only retake Cheneux but also Stoumont; Peiper sees only one option for what is left of his Kampfgruppe in La Gleize and that is to abandon their equipment and to walk out on foot during the night, retreating towards the south.
It is in this intense fighting of December 23 '44 that Karl Herrmann gets KIA; his Soldbuch gets penetrated by a bullet or a piece of shrapnel.
On of his friends recover it from his body and it makes his way back to his family, the soldier that did this most likely wanted to proof to his family that he died instantly and without suffering; the Soldbuch was usually carried in the breast pocket and when it gets penetrated like this the wound sustained is almost certainly lethal.
According to the postcard from the grave registration agency he was in 1948 still buried in the cemetery of Henri Chapelle, a bit later the German soldiers buried there were exhumed and reburied in the big German war cemetery in Lommel (Belgium); he now rests in a grave of an unknown soldier and is listed in the archive with his Heer rank.
For some reason someone ripped out the picture; normally I don't buy Soldbucher with ripped out pictures but I made an exception for this one.
With this Soldbuch came also a postcard picture, of course their isn't any confirmation that the soldier on the picture is Karl Herrmann but he matches the description in the Soldbuch, the picture was made in Strasbourg, in the summer of 1940 his unit was indeed based in this area so it certainly is possible that he went to a photo studio to have his picture taken with his new rank insignia.
Cheers,
Peter
This is the latest addition in my Soldbuch collection and because today it is exactly 69 years that this sergeant got KIA it seemed a good idea to post it here.
Karl Herrmann (°1915) from Genkingen, he was gunner in 10th battery of Artillery Regiment 260 (260ID).
When the war broke out his unit was placed on the Oberrhein facing the French in their Maginot line fortresses; when operation yellow started they remained in OKH reserve but during the second phase of the Westfeldzug (operation red) they fired their first shots in anger.
In the summer of 1940 his unit gets a new name it becomes IV/Schwere Art Abt 260 (mot), in January the name is changed again it then becomes Schw Art Abt 847 and finally in November '41 it becomes II/Art Rgt 128, a part of the 23 Pz Div.
In the meanwhile he has been promoted to sergeant and now that he is serving on the eastern front with the 23 Pz Div of the 6th Army the war becomes very serious for him; in May '42 they are fighting for control over the city Charkow.
On May 16 1942 he gets wounded by a piece of shrapnel, six days later he is back with his field unit; there he gets a wounded badge in black and in July '42 an EKII.
On September 10 1942 he gets hit again by shrapnel, this time a more serious, he remains in various hospitals to recover until June 17 1943, while he recovers he also gets treated for tonsillitis.
After he is discharged from hospital he is transferred to Reserve Art Abt 260, part of the 155 Reserve Panzer Division based in Southern France; in April '44 his unit is used to rebuild Panzer Artillery Regiment 102 of the 9 Pz Div.
He stays with this unit only a short while, a few weeks later he joins the second battery of the SS Pz Art Rgt 1 "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler".
Now his story is becoming very interesting, from this Soldbuch I can't tell if he volunteered for service in the Waffen SS or that he was drafted in to fill up the heavy losses they has sustained in the east; his rank is changed in to the Waffen SS equivalent SS Scharführer.
With the aid of the control stamps we can see that he was on June 1 1944 indeed with the 2nd Battery and thus saw action in Normandy.
After the retreat out of France his unit starts to prepare for A.Hitlers last gamble, operation Wach am Rhein, their is a prominent role for laid away for the men of the Leibstandarte, their division is organized in different Kampfgruppen (mixed highly mobile fighting units), their task is to breakthrough the allied frontline and in Blitzkrieg fashion to cross the Meuse river and to retake the Antwerp harbor.
In November '44 Karl Herrmann gets a new 08 pistol, a MP40 and a compass, this suggests that he is a field gun commander in his battery.
- Notice that their is some confusion to which Kampfgruppe the 2nd Battery belonged, one source place them with KG Knittel others with KG Peiper, the most recent sources place them with Kampfgruppe Peiper though.
I will write this posting with for me the most recent information but I keep on checking and should it change again I'll alter it accordingly.
Kampfgruppe Peiper is perhaps the most famous German fighting unit of the battle of the bulge, famous is perhaps the wrong word they are more infamously known for the execution of American POW's and Belgian civilians.
In this posting I'am not going to write the entire well known history of the KG Peiper in December '44, I'll limit it to the day when Karl Herrmann got KIA.
On the morning of December 23 '44 things look bleak for the men of KG Peiper, their advance has been halted in the Ambleve valley in the hamlets Stoumont and Habiemont, even worse the day before the Americans have managed to blow up the bridge in Stavelot and thus they can't retreat the same way they came, they are virtually surrounded by ever growing American forces.
The artillery of the KG is placed in Cheneux and in the morning lays a heavy barrage on the US troops that are attacking the Waffen SS troops in Stoumont.
In the afternoon the paratroopers of the 504 PIR manage to retake Cheneux, the fighting is fierce, close combat fighting in the houses of the hamlet.
On December 23 '44 the US troops come out on top, they not only retake Cheneux but also Stoumont; Peiper sees only one option for what is left of his Kampfgruppe in La Gleize and that is to abandon their equipment and to walk out on foot during the night, retreating towards the south.
It is in this intense fighting of December 23 '44 that Karl Herrmann gets KIA; his Soldbuch gets penetrated by a bullet or a piece of shrapnel.
On of his friends recover it from his body and it makes his way back to his family, the soldier that did this most likely wanted to proof to his family that he died instantly and without suffering; the Soldbuch was usually carried in the breast pocket and when it gets penetrated like this the wound sustained is almost certainly lethal.
According to the postcard from the grave registration agency he was in 1948 still buried in the cemetery of Henri Chapelle, a bit later the German soldiers buried there were exhumed and reburied in the big German war cemetery in Lommel (Belgium); he now rests in a grave of an unknown soldier and is listed in the archive with his Heer rank.
For some reason someone ripped out the picture; normally I don't buy Soldbucher with ripped out pictures but I made an exception for this one.
With this Soldbuch came also a postcard picture, of course their isn't any confirmation that the soldier on the picture is Karl Herrmann but he matches the description in the Soldbuch, the picture was made in Strasbourg, in the summer of 1940 his unit was indeed based in this area so it certainly is possible that he went to a photo studio to have his picture taken with his new rank insignia.
Cheers,
Peter
