Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Leutnant der Reserve (2nd Lieutenant of Reserves)

Unit:

Führer 10./Grenadier-Regiment (mot) 8

Awarded on:

December 11th, 1944

Zillies was awarded the Knight’s Cross for his defense of Würselen on the 21.10.1944. The following wartime excerpt details this action as follows…

“Leutnant Zilles (1./Pz.G.R. 8) realized that the Americans were threatening to envelop his Bataillon… He decided… to firmly establish himself in the ruins of the village (the southern part of Würselen) with the merged remnants of his Kompanie so as to hold off the Americans long enough for his Bataillon to occupy its new defensive positions.

In the 24 hours of battle which followed he repelled tank-led enemy attacks. 7 Sherman tanks were destroyed by his small unit. Although no armour-piercing weapons were available, and all the heavy weapons had been knocked out, the Panzergrenadiers continued to hold their ground with machine-pistols and hand grenades. In bitter close combat they repeatedly denied the Americans the way forward.

Only after the Bataillon had entrenched itself in its new defensive line did Leutnant Zillies break-out of the village with his brave band of soldiers following an order transmitted by radio. They passed through the American lines and reached the new position, at which point they joined their comrades along the defensive front.”