Traugott Herr Unleashed: The Middle Chapter Unfolded

Amidst the annals of history, Herr, born in 1890, initially found his calling in the Imperial German army, donning the mantle of a Fahnen-junker (officer cadet) within the infantry’s ranks, commencing his journey in 1911. Transitioning into the Wehrmacht during the late 1930s, he assumed leadership of the 3rd Battalion of the 33rd Infantry Regiment.

Thereafter, from September 8, 1939, to October 14, 1940, he steered an infantry regiment ensconced in the 13th Motorized Infantry Division, actively participating in the Invasion of Poland (September 1939) and the multifaceted campaign in France (May 1940 to October 1940). Post the division’s metamorphosis into the 13th Panzer Division in October 1940, Herr seized control of the 13th Rifle Brigade.
In the throes of the Polish invasion, the division embroiled itself in contentious actions, resorting to the use of civilians as human shields and partaking in retaliatory killings. Herr’s role in these incidents remains shrouded in ambiguity. In May 1941, the regiment returned to the German homeland to embark upon Operation Barbarossa, the audacious invasion of the Soviet Union, under the command of Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist. Come December 1941, Herr assumed the mantle of acting commander for the 13th Panzer Division.

However, Herr’s military trajectory encountered a formidable obstacle on October 31, 1942, when he suffered a grave head injury from shrapnel along the Terek River in the Caucasus. Repatriated to Germany for convalescence, he later ascended to the position of commander for the LXXVI Panzer Corps stationed in France, subsequently dispatched to Italy in August 1943. In the Italian theater, Herr’s unit confronted the British Eighth Army in Calabria and the U.S. Fifth Army in Salerno.
Persisting in his command throughout the Italian Campaign until November 24, 1944, Herr assumed temporary stewardship of the 14th Army from late November to mid-December 1944. Bestowed with the Swords to the Knight’s Cross on December 18, 1944, he took charge of the 10th Army on February 15, 1945, confronting the Allies’ culminating offensive in Italy. As British forces overran the 14th Army on May 2, 1945, Herr found himself apprehended and held captive until his release in May 1948.