"Awarded for actions during the latter stages of the Battle of France. On
the evening of the 14.06.1940, his battalion (along with
Panzer-Regiment 5) had reached a point approximately 15 km north of the
city of St. Florentin. He received an order to capture the city along
with its key bridges as soon as possible. Upon hearing favorable
intelligence, he decided the best strategy was a coup de main, and sent
out a reinforced company first. Intermingling with the fleeing refugees
and French soldiers, they went unnoticed for some time, and when they
were recognized they opened fire at close range. Despite the mass of
vehicles and people that had clogged the roads, and Zimmermann himself
being wounded in the course of the fighting, his soldiers were able to
seize all the bridges intact and held them against counterattacks. The
victory was a tremendous one, with Zimmermann’s battalion capturing 112
officers, 2,360 NCOs and enlisted men, over 500 vehicles (including 4
tanks and 4 armored cars), 21 various artillery pieces and a depot with
six million liters of fuel." from his Knight's Cross to the Iron Cross citation, awarded on September 4th, 1940 as Major of the Schützen Regiment 3.
Another deadly enemy elite,
Brian
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