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advancing toward Leningrad; it endured heavy casualties during the Soviet winter counter-offensive of 1941–42 and was withdrawn to Estonia for refitting.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.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_Panzer_Division_(Wehrmacht)
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