Willi Hermann was born near Dresden in 1906. He worked for a textile company. In 1939, he was given a military physical, deemed to be fit for duty and assigned to the “Ersatzreserve I” category, which included males under the age of 35 with no military training. He was drafted in 1941, at the age of 35, and after barely more than one month of training, he was assigned to Landesschützen-Bataillon 464. Initially, he was trained on how to use the Gewehr 24 (t) and MG 26 (t), these were the German designations for the Czech VZ24 rifle and ZB26 machine gun. It’s probable that Hermann was trained on the use of these Czech weapons because he trained to serve in rear area type units that would have been armed, at least in part, with obsolete and captured weapons. On November 5, 1941, Hermann was transferred, and assigned to a Marschbataillon, a unit for soldiers in transit. Almost 3 weeks later, he officially joined his new unit: Landesschützen-Bataillon (later Sicherungs-Bataillon) 869, at that time active in Russia in Army Group North and attached to the 281. Sicherungs-Division. He served with this unit for 11 months, during which time he participated in security duties and also fights against partisans. For his service with this unit in Russia in the winter of 1941/1942, he was awarded the “Ostmedaille” campaign decoration. In August of 1942, after serving in the Wehrmacht for more than 14 months, Hermann was promoted to the rank of Gefreiter. On October 15, 1942, the Sicherungs-Bataillon of which Hermann was a part, was redesignated, and became the I. Bataillon of Sicherungs-Regiment 107.
On November 12, 1942, strong partisan bands emerged in the area 28 kilometers southeast of Salkowitschi*. Hermann’s unit, 4. Kompanie, Sicherungs-Regiment 107, was at that time based in this area, in the locality of Machnowka. The next day, November 13, Hermann’s unit made contact with a strong partisan band in the area of Chulpowo, 10 kilometers north-northeast of Machnowka. By November 15, the operation was over. In this combat, 4./Sich. Rgt. 107 suffered 3 men wounded, and one officer, 3 NCOs, and 10 enlisted men killed- among them, Willi Hermann. The officer killed in that action, was the man who had certified the promotion entry in Hermann’s Wehrpass. The Wehrpass records that Willi Hermann died in a place called Ssiwkowo, and was buried in Ostrow. He was 36 years old.
Willi Hermann was mourned by his wife, his mother, and the two children he left behind. He was one of 3.4 million German soldiers killed in WWII.
*I have retained the German spelling for all place names.
Photo and personal details of Willi Hermann
List of the units Hermann served with in WWII.
Weapons trained on: Gewehr 24(t), l. MG 26(t), and later, the K98 rifle.
Page 22 records Hermann’s rank promotion. It is signed by Leutnant Grüssinger, who was killed in the same action as Hermann. Page 23 records the award of the “Winterschlacht im Osten” medal.
List of all the campaigns Hermann was a part of. From November 11, 1941, through December 31, 1941: Securing the operational area and fights against partisans, with Army Group North. January 1, 1942, through November 13, 1942: Action against the Soviet Union.
This entry records the details of when and where Hermann was killed, and where he was buried.
