In October 1942, he became Commanding General of the II Luftwaffe Field Corps on the Eastern Front. Schlemm's corps comprised four Luftwaffe Field Divisions and held the line from south of Nevel to the Dvina River east of Vitebsk, under the 3rd Panzer Army of Army Group Centre. In February and March 1943, the II Luftwaffe Field Corps participated in Operation Kugelblitz against the Soviet partisan northeast of Vitebsk. On 6 October 1943, part of Schlemm's corps collapsed under a major Soviet attack, resulting in a 10-mile gap in the German lines and the abandonment of Nevel. The entire II Luftwaffe Field Corps fell back to new positions west of Gorodok.