The 12. Panzer-Division was a Wehrmacht armoured division that fought exclusively on the Eastern Front throughout World War II. It originated from the 2. Infanterie-Division (mot.), which had been motorised in the mid-1930s and participated in the invasions of Poland in 1939 and France in 1940; the unit was reorganised as a Panzer division in October 1940 and formally activated on 10 January 1941 under the command of Generalmajor Josef Harpe, with its home station in Stettin. In June 1941 the division joined Operation Barbarossa as part of Army Group North, fighting in the battles of Minsk and Smolensk before advancing toward Leningrad; it endured heavy casualties during the Soviet winter counter-offensive of 1941–42 and was withdrawn to Estonia for refitting. For most of the war it remained with Army Group North, although it briefly transferred south in July 1943 to take part in the Battle of Kursk and subsequent defensive operations before returning north in January 1944, arriving too late to influence attempts to relieve the Siege of Leningrad. During the Soviet Operation Bagration in June 1944 the division, by then critically understrength and lacking its full reconnaissance and Flak elements, was detached as Army Group North’s largest remaining armoured formation to counterattack and relieve the encircled German forces in the Minsk pocket; despite its weakness, with only a single panzer company and limited infantry support, it launched a daring night attack on 1 July 1944 from Maryina Horka toward Babruysk that successfully bluffed Soviet troops into believing they faced a full Panzer division, opening an escape corridor through which approximately 25,000 German soldiers broke out southwest of Minsk. Thereafter trapped in the Courland Pocket, the 12. Panzer-Division continued defensive fighting until it surrendered to the Red Army on 8 May 1945.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
Generaloberst Josef Harpe (1887-1968) was a senior German panzer commander who served on the Eastern Front throughout much of World War II and rose to lead major formations including the 9th Army and Army Group A. As Generalmajor and commander of the 12. Panzer-Division he earned the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 13 August 1941 for his outstanding leadership during the defensive battle at Wop on 24–25 July 1941, when his division held a 40-kilometre sector against a fresh Siberian corps, repelled the assault through superior combat direction and close Luftwaffe support, and then launched a decisive counterattack that completely destroyed the 91st Siberian Division. He received the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 31 December 1941, still as Generalmajor commanding the same division, in recognition of his part in the capture of Tikhvin together with his personal decision to remain with his troops after sustaining a head wound and his skilful conduct of an orderly rearguard withdrawal from 10 to 17 December 1941 that enabled three divisions to retreat with minimal losses despite the threat of encirclement. Later, as General der Panzertruppen and commanding general of the XXXXI. Panzerkorps, Harpe was awarded the Schwerter zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub on 15 September 1943 for his masterful handling of operations south of Orel in July 1943, during which he smashed Soviet offensive assembly areas, repelled repeated enemy attacks while inflicting heavy losses, rallied retreating units north of Orel with only a small escort and restored a coherent defensive line, and personally hastened to forward division command posts northwest of Orel to issue immediate counter-measures that reformed the front and drove back Soviet divisions and tank brigades. These successive awards reflected Harpe’s consistent ability to stabilise critical sectors through bold personal leadership and rapid tactical decisions in the fluid conditions of the Eastern Front.
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RITTERKREUZTRÄGER
Generalleutnant Helmuth Schlömer (1893-1995) was born on 20 May 1893 in Hausberge near Minden and joined the Königlich Preußische Armee on 9 March 1913 as a Fahnenjunker in the 8. Lothringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 159, serving as an officer throughout the First World War in roles including company commander, battalion adjutant and regimental adjutant before being retained in the Reichswehr after 1918. In the interwar years he held various troop and staff appointments and in 1935 served as an instructor at the Kriegsschule München; with the expansion of the Wehrmacht he took part in the invasion of Poland and the campaign in the West. As Oberst and Kommandeur of Schützen-Regiment 5 he distinguished himself during Operation Barbarossa, particularly in the final advance of Heeresgruppe Nord that aimed to sever the land connection to Leningrad, leading his regiment through heavily fortified and swampy terrain along the Ljuban–Ishora–Leningrad axis, for which he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 2 October 1941. Shortly thereafter he assumed command of Schützen-Brigade 7 and on 30 April 1942 was appointed Kommandeur of the 3. Infanterie-Division (mot.). As Generalmajor he directed the division in the southern sector of the Eastern Front during the 1942 summer offensive, achieving the successful crossing of the Tim on 28 June 1942, the stubborn defence of the Voronezh bridgehead from 7 to 13 July 1942, the hard-fought actions in the Don bend between 24 July and 10 August 1942, and the prolonged defence of the northern edge of the German salient at Stalingrad between the Don and the Volga. These achievements earned him the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 23 December 1942 as the 161st recipient. Promoted to Generalleutnant, he took over the Generalkommando XIV. Panzerkorps inside the Stalingrad pocket on 15 January 1943 after General der Panzertruppe Hans-Valentin Hube was flown out, and on 29 January 1943 became the first corps commander to open surrender negotiations with the Red Army. Taken prisoner with the remnants of the 6. Armee, he later joined the Nationalkomitee Freies Deutschland and the Bund Deutscher Offiziere, was released in 1949, and died on 18 August 1995 in Minden-Lübbecke at the age of 102!
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_Panzer_Division_(Wehrmacht)
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