"Awarded for actions fought with the 252 Infantry Division over the
course of two days during August 1944, northeast of Vilnius. The right neighbor of this division had been pushed back, exposing its southern
flank. Before it could pull back accordingly the Soviets promptly
capitalized on this weakness, threatening the rear of the division. Zillmann was sent with his platoon of assault guns and an attached
pioneer platoon to stop them and permit the division to retreat.
Upon contact Zillmann shot up three AT guns and brought the attack to a
halt. When the Soviets attempted to bypass his small kampfgruppe with
about two companies he launched his own attack into their flank, putting
them to flight.
Around noon the next day, as the division was beginning its withdrawal,
seven Soviet tanks with limbered AT guns in tow succeeded in reaching
and cutting off the German's escape route. Zillmann quickly launched a
counterattack and his platoon destroyed four tanks as well as two AT
guns that were trying to deploy. The road was thus cleared and thanks to
Zillmann's actions the withdrawal could be completed successfully." from his Knight's Cross to the Iron Cross citation, awarded on August 8th, 1944 as Stabswachtmeister of the 3 Sturmgeschütz Brigade 245.
Another deadly enemy elite,
Brian
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