During World War II, he commanded the 17th Infantry Division on the Eastern Front, a Corps in France in 1943 and an Army detachment in Italy before being appointed to command the 15th Army on the Western Front. Having occupied the Pas de Calais during the 1944 campaign in France, Von Zangen was forced to evacuate his army, together with other divisions, across the Scheldt to the island of Walcheren and South Beveland.