Following the outbreak of World War II, he commanded of the 64th Motorcycle Battalion and then the 103rd Rifle Regiment.[1] On 11 November 1942, he was appointed commander of the 27th Panzer Division, at the time engaged in fighting as it retreated from the Donets. In early 1943 he left the Eastern Front to take up an appointment as commander of the School for Panzer Troops, based in Germany.[2]