In March 1945, the 2nd Marine Division was formed in Schleswig-Holstein with its home station in Glückstadt from excess naval personnel.

[1] At the beginning of April 1945, the division was declared ready for action and, although poorly trained and equipped, relocated to the zone south of Bremen on the Weser River.

From 5 April the division was part of Luftwaffe General Kurt Student's Army Group and moved in to defend the Weser-Aller line.

On 28 April 1945, the remnants were returned to Meldorf an der Elbe, while the approximately 750 men were withdrawn behind the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal and were used as an alarm unit in the Albersdorf and Hemmingstedt area.

This makes him one of very few German enlisted men of World War II for whom public places in Germany are named.