Petty Officer Mechanic

Hans-Hermann Schmidt

Artillery Mechanic, 8. Divison

* 13.6.1916 in Celle (Hanover) - † 27.5.1941

Germany (1916)

Source:

Silke van Dalen (niece) / Netherlands

Hans-Hermann Schmidt was born on June 13, 1916 as the first son of Hermann and Elisabeth Schmidt in the town of Celle near Hanover. He grew up in his parents' house at Kampe 6a and continued to live there. He was the family's only child until he was eight years old. Then his brother Günther was born. Another brother, Hartmut, followed thirteen years later, when Hans-Hermann Schmidt had already been in the navy for a long time. He particularly loved his youngest brother. But back to his own childhood: After elementary school, Hans-Hermann Schmidt did an apprenticeship as a mechanic and decided at that time to pursue a career in the navy. His volunteer application was successful and the eighteen-year-old joined the navy at the end of 1934 and trained as an artillery mechanic.

One of his subsequent boarding commands took him to the new Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee. The ship had only been commissioned in 1936 and was therefore brand new to the navy. In the same year, the fleet commander also boarded the ship, making the Admiral Graf Spee his fleet flagship. Hans-Hermann Schmidt saw his first combat deployment with the Panzerschiff during the Spanish Civil War, when the Admiral Graf Spee took part in the international naval blockade against the import of weapons into the country. The deployment also included calling at several Spanish ports on the Mediterranean coast, as well as North African ports on the opposite side of Gibraltar. Hans-Hermann Schmidt enjoyed the shore excursions with his comrades, watched the goings-on of the people with interest, visited sights such as the Mallorcan cathedral La Seu, watched military parades of Franco's putschists, ate in cafes and restaurants, smoked or went swimming and strolling along the promenades with his comrades. After returning home, he stuck the many photos he had taken and exchanged into a photo album. It still tells of the joyful moments that he and his comrades had experienced despite the civil war in Spain.

Picture Gallery – Hans-Hermann Schmidt's Childhood and Military Service

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Photo gallery – Spain mission with the Admiral Graf Spee

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Because Hans-Hermann Schmidt proved himself in service on board, he was recommended as a petty officer candidate after three years and began the winter petty officer training course at the 1st Naval Non-Commissioned Officer Training Department in Friedrichsort in October 1937. In the general petty officer training course he completed there, he was prepared for his later role as a superior. The course mainly included theoretical instruction in the classrooms of the Naval Non-Commissioned Officer Training Department. Here, the non-commissioned officer candidates were once again ideologically formed. The instruction booklet that Hans-Hermann Schmidt had to keep in parallel to the lessons and which has stood the time reflects this political training and the way of thinking of the time in a particularly vivid way. It states, for example: "The honor of the soldier lies in the unconditional commitment of his person to the people and fatherland, even to the point of sacrificing his life. The highest soldierly virtue is fighting courage. It requires toughness and determination. Cowardice is shameful. Hesitation is unsoldierly." The demands placed on the character of the young petty officer candidates are also mentioned a few lines below: "Self-confident and yet modest, upright and loyal, God-fearing and able to defend oneself, discreet and incorruptible, the soldier should be a model of manly strength for the entire people. Only achievements justify pride." In addition to political instruction, the course also had other topics, such as pedagogical Training for instructing subordinates, with content such as lesson preparation, correct questioning techniques, rhetoric and facial expressions. The rules of conduct and manners customary in the military were also intensively practiced again.

In the spring of 1938, Hans-Hermann Schmidt followed the general course with the artillery mechanic's mate course at the naval artillery school in Kiel, which included specialist technical training. Freshly promoted to petty officer mechanic, he returned to the Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee and remained there until at least the end of the year. His parents were delighted with their son's rapid career, and he enjoyed going on holiday even more and being spoiled by his mother — who was an excellent cook — with his favourite dishes. After the war began, Hans-Hermann Schmidt then went to the battleship Bismarck for construction instruction, and there he experienced the final construction phase until the ship was completed. This gave him the ideal opportunity to familiarize himself directly with the artillery installations that he would later have to maintain and repair. Having been promoted to petty officer mechanic, Hans-Hermann Schmidt set off on a combat mission with the Bismarck, from which he never returned. He was killed on May 27, 1941, just a few weeks before his twenty-fifth birthday.