 Complete the following phrase:  On August 17, 1939, Gerlach was drafted into the Wehrmacht as a reservist where he was promoted to unteroffizier and appointed leader of telephone-construction crews. From February until April he was posted to Halle an der Saale for officer cadet training. Following that, he was with the 1st Signals Battalion in Königsberg until August. For the rest of the year, Gerlach served in the 228th Signals Battalion in Westphalia, being promoted to Leutt on September 1st, 1940. From December 1940 to April 1941 he was a platoon leader of the same division and deployed to France. In April 1941, Gerlach and his platoon took part in the Balkan campaign in Yugoslavia and in June of the same year he transferred to the 16th Infantry Division, which took part in the attack on the Soviet Union on June 22nd, 1941. In July 1942, he was promoted to Oberleutt and placed on the staff of the XXXVIII Panzer Corps where he participated in several battles, including the 