Nevertheless, the battalion made a hook to the north as far as Petersfelde, where the white flag was already flying, but there it was learnt that a Wehrmacht corps was regrouping at Meseritz, about 10km away. The battalion arrived at Meseritz as night was falling. Men and vehicles were still milling around and camping in the castle park, where the headquarters of General Munzel’s Corps was located. General Munzel gave General Krukenberg his own Iron Cross First Class to award to Lieutenant Fenet.
Further east, the remains of Lieutenant-General Hans von Tettau’s Corps, some 10,000–15,700 strong and consisting of 5 or more scratch divisions, including the Panzer Division Holstein and Division Pommern, had lost all radio contact with the parent 3rd Panzer Army. It broke out of encirclement in the area south of Belgard early on 5 March and started making its way towards the tiny harbour of Horst, from where von Tettau hoped to be evacuated by sea.
The men of the Charlemagne were able to sleep for several hours at Meseritz on the 6th, but the columns set off again through woods towards midnight to arrive at Pinnow on the Plathe–Körlin highway early in the morning.
On 7 March the column reached Natelfitz, some 10km from Greifenberg, where it was hoped that they could relieve the surrounded German garrison. The French battalion, which was completely exhausted and had practically eaten nothing for three days, did not take part in the attack from Natelfitz. It had come to within 7km of Greifenberg before being stopped by the Russians. It was now necessary, without loss of time, to pass north of the town to reach the new rallying point at Kammin on the Oder estuary. At this point thirty men that had been lost for three days rejoined the main body.
After passing the night at Wendisch Pribbernow, the march continued on 8 March towards the northwest, but it was then reported that Kammin had been taken by the enemy. They then tried to reach the Baltic coast at the nearest point, passing the Rega near Treptow. The same day, seven men were wounded by a mine exploded by a vehicle on the Treptow–Greifenberg road. During the afternoon some fighting developed towards Gorke and Woedtke, the last village having been retaken from the Soviets, who had pillaged the place and committed numerous acts of violence. During the day the battalion complimented General Krukenberg on his fifty-seventh birthday. The last night before reaching the Baltic was spent at Zapplin.
The column continued on its way without incident all day on 9 March and arrived late at the little fishing port of Horst, where it rested. The forces of Generals Munzel and von Tettau, about 50,000 strong, half of which were civilians, combined to form a bridgehead there, but hopes of evacuation by sea proved unattainable, as all available shipping resources were already employed in the evacuation of Kolberg and other ports further east.
A report submitted by a Major Kropp to Army Group Weichsel on 9 March 1945 stated:
Von Tettau is at Horst in a bridgehead about 20 kilometres wide and 10 kilometres deep, delimited as follows: Putshow tile factory (inclusive) - Dresow (inclusive) - Karnitz, Klein Zapplin (inclusive) - Gumtow (inclusive) - Zedlin -Voigtshagen as far as Deep.
There are elements of the Division Holstein without vehicles from Horst to Gumtow inclusive; the Division Pommern as far as Voigtshagen inclusive; the 15th SS-Latvian Division as far as Deep.
There are about 50,000 people in the pocket, half of them civilians.
Two battalions and one battery of the 5th Light Division have arrived via Gulzow and are now near Stettin.
Armament available: 30 artillery pieces, several self-propelled 88mm anti-aircraft guns: no precise figure. No anti-tank guns, no tanks. The Holstein is entirely on foot.
Light enemy pressure in the von Tettau sector.
Von Tettau has established a bridgehead at Horst for evacuation by sea. Tonight he will regroup his forces to rejoin the lines in the area Dresow-Gross Justin. He will move along the coast, escorting the civilians without their baggage on the way.
Near Dievenow the road is quite bad and can easily be fired upon by the enemy.
There are no anti-tank defences in the area, neither static nor mobile.
There is only a five-ton bridge at Dievenow. A ferry will have to be established.
We have asked the navy’s support to ensure the evacuation of the women and children from Horst and Rewahl.
Something has to be done to ensure that the evacuation can be carried out effectively.
With the Russians closing in, the Charlemagne battalion left Horst during the afternoon to reach the seaside resort of Rewahl at about 1700 hours.
Accepting the impossibility of evacuation by sea, Lieutenant-General von Tettau opted for running the Soviet gauntlet westwards along the coast to Dievenow, where German troops from the Swinemünde area were in occupation. Von Tettau being a personal friend of SS-Colonel Zimmermann, the latter succeeded in persuading him to allow the Charlemagne to lead the breakout of the refugees, now numbering several thousand.
At Rewahl, 10 March was meant to be a rest day, but Russian reinforcements in the form of the 7th Guards Cavalry Corps started attacking the German concentration during the day.
The breakout along the narrow beach was led by an advance party formed from members of the Fusilier Battalion of the Holstein Panzer Division and officer-cadet Regiment Buchenau. This was followed at midnight by the main body of refugees led by twenty members of the Charlemagne under the command of Lieutenant Fenet, who was accompanied by SS-Colonel Zimmermann to deal with any mines encountered in his capacity as an engineer. A covering party, including SS-Major-General Krukenberg, went along the top of the dunes, to try and prevent alerting enemy patrols and sentries, while the remainder of the battalion formed a rearguard with some members of the 4th SS-Police-Panzergrenadier Division. Another group commanded by Captain Roy escorted the convoy of those vehicles still remaining along the coastal road, leaving some 2 hours later.
However, the many hold-ups that occurred slowed down progress so much that after the penetration made by the advance party the Soviets had time to return and attack the main column with grenades and machine guns. (The Soviet troops involved were from the 79th Rifle Corps, which was later to gain fame in the storming of the Reichstag in Berlin.) The advance was hampered by the narrowness of the beach, which was only 1–10m wide between the sea on the right and the several metres high dunes covered in vegetation on the left.
Local counterattacks were made by the Fenet Battalion as it passed through. SS-Colonel Zimmermann was lightly wounded in the foot during the first encounter and continued the march wearing slippers. There were several deaths and a certain number of injured. Among those that disappeared was the medical officer, Senior Officer-Cadet Anneshaensel, who was last seen attending to the wounded.
Tasked with providing naval support, the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer and the heavy torpedo-boat T-33 started firing on the groups moving along the seashore, mistaking them for Russians, but the firing fortunately stopped when signal flares set off by the troops alerted the ships to their error.
One of the Frenchmen recalled encountering the scene of a previous Soviet attack: