Herff, Maximilian Max Karl Otto von, born 17-04-1893 in Hanover,
the son of a physician. There
, family weapon. The Protestant von Herff family originated from Herve in Belgium and moved to the Palatinate in 1577 to escape religious persecution. His ancestor Christian Herff had been inducted into the noble class in 1814. Max joined the Imperial Army in August 1914 and was commissioned as a leutnant, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse 1st Life Guards Regiment of the 115th Infantry.
He served in this regiment through most of World War I. Later he served in the Fifth Lower Silesian Regiment of the 154th Infantry, and remained in that unit until 09-11-1918, the end of the war. During his service he was awarded the Iron Cross First
and Second Class. Between 1 March and 01-10-1919 he was a volunteer in the Hanoverian Freikorps
and then joined the Reichswehr. He is the cousin of the SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor in the police Eberhard Herf
. Eberhard had directed mass murder of the Jews in the Minsk Ghetto. After the war he was sentenced to death. Eberhard was executed by hanging on 30-01-1946, age 59. Maximilaian married Hedwig von Grolman on 04-08-1920. In 1926 he joined the 18th Cavalry Regiment in Stuttgart, and in 01-02-1928 joined the 15th Infantry Regiment in Kassel. On 01-02-1928 he was promoted to Hauptmann, Captain and on 01-10-1934 to Major. On 16-03-1935 he was appointed to the Staff of the Eighth Corps in Breslau. He was promoted to Oberstleutnant, lieutenant colonel, on 01-08-1937. On 03-01-1939 was appointed to the Staff of the Seventeenth Corps in Vienna. During World War II, von Herff served with the Deutsches Afrika Korps
, under Erwin Rommel
in North Africa, on the Tobruk front. He was promoted to Oberst/Colonel and commanded “Kampfgruppe von Herff”. In Mai 1942 Tobruk was captured, after two weeks battle during Operation Theseus. The English defenders surrendered on 21-06-1942. 32.000 Allied soldiers were imprisoned and about 5.000 tons Supply material and 10.000 tons of fuel confiscated. Rommel was awarded with the title General Field Marshal as result. After heavy battles of El Alamein in Septemer 1942 the Germans had to leave Tobruk finally. For his service in North Africa he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross in June 1941.
At the suggestion of SS Obergruppenführer, Karl Wolff

























Death and burial ground of Herff, Maximilian Max Karl Otto von.



Herff was captured by British forces in 1945, and held at Grizedale POW camp in Scotland. He suffered a stroke and died at nearby Conishead Priory Military Hospital, age 52, on 06-09-1945. He was reburied at Cannock Chase German war cemetery, Staffordshire. Generalfeldmarschall, Ernst Busch,
died also in captivity and is buried on this cemetery. Also buried here the commander of the 55th Jagdgeschwader, Oberst Alois Stoeckl.




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