Herman was from Arden Vale near Quorn, was a single man and a farmer. He had tried to enlist earlier but been rejected due to his eyesight. Not long after his 23rd birthday, Herman tried again and enlisted in Adelaide. It was 26th August 1916 and within a month he was part of the Artillery Reinforcements. Herman spent a short time in hospital at Mitcham and then in November he found himself in Maribyrnong as part of the 6th Field Artillery Brigade, 12th Reinforcements. His rank was gunner.
Two days before Christmas 1916 he boarded the RMS Orontes in Melbourne with 17 other South Australians in his reinforcement group and sailed for Europe. On this trip he spent two weeks sick with Parotitis, an inflammation of the salivary glands.
On the 17th February 1917 Herman disembarked in Plymouth and the next day arrived in Number 3 Camp, Parkhouse.
Health problems seemed to dog Herman as he spent the first half of March in the Tidworth Military Hospital.
From the end of March to mid June he continued to train with the Reserve Brigade Australian Artillery, until on 19th June he left Southampton for France. The next day he marched in to the AGDB at Rouelles and a few days later he marched out to the 2nd Division Artillery.
From the beginning of July to mid October, Herman was part of the field artillery, until on the 16th October he was gassed. He spent the rest of the year in the 83rd General Hospital in Bolougne, leaving for the Number 3 rest camp three days after Christmas, 1917.
1918 began with Herman returning to the 2nd Divisional Artillery on the 9th of January. Records are sparse for this year, but we know that Herman spent 18 days leave in the UK during March. The next record we have is to note that he was killed on the 3rd of September, 1918. Herman was buried in the Roisel Community Cemetery, but this may have been a reinterring from an initial grave in the field.
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