Wilhelm Schöning served as commander of the 66th Panzergrenadier Regiment of the 13th Panzer Division

Panzer Division

A panzer division was an armored division in the army and air force branches of the Wehrmacht as well as the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II....

 during the Siege of Budapest.

Most of the division was encircled and destroyed in Budapest between December and February 1944-45. The remnants which escaped, consisting of 200-300 men, were reformed under Schöning. Schöning remembered it thus:

Suddenly I had the feeling that my leg was being torn off. Division doctor Major Seeger, who was lying near me, wanted to help me. He bent over me and in so doing was himself wounded. Right at the start of the breakout he was shot in the leg which exposed his Achilles tendon and was then hit by another bullet which tore away his backside. As my pistol was empty I ordered my lieutenant to finish me off because I didn't want to be taken prisoner. He was himself wounded in the arm. He then called to me: “Only another 2,000 metres, Lieutenant Colonel. We have to make it!'” I crept through the snow up a hill with the major...Two wounded grenadiers from our battle group picked us up under the arms under the heaviest fire and stood us upright and I dragged myself with several wounds to the feet the two kilometres to the German position.

Dates of Rank

• Leutnant
• Oberleutnant
  Oberleutnant
  Oberleutnant is a junior officer rank in the militaries of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In the German Army, it dates from the early 19th century. Translated as "Senior Lieutenant", the rank is typically bestowed upon commissioned officers after five to six years of active duty...
  
  
• Hauptmann
  Hauptmann
  Hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian and Swiss armies. While "haupt" in contemporary German means "main", it also has the dated meaning of "head", i.e...
  
   - 194x
• Major
  Major
  Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
  
   - 21 Jan 1945
• Oberstleutnant
  Oberstleutnant
  Oberstleutnant is a German Army and Air Force rank equal to Lieutenant Colonel, above Major, and below Oberst.There are two paygrade associated to the rank of Oberstleutnant...
  
   - 1945

External links

• Lexikon der Wehrmacht