XII Army Corps (German: ''XII. Armeekorps'') was a corps in the German Army during World War II. It was formed in the Wehrkreis XII recruitment and training district in Wiesbaden in October 1936 and was mobilized before the outbreak of war at the end of August 1939.
At the start of World War II the corps were part of the
1st Army First Army may refer to:
China
* New 1st Army, Republic of China
* First Field Army, a Communist Party of China unit in the Chinese Civil War
* 1st Group Army, People's Republic of China
Germany
* 1st Army (German Empire), a World War I field Army ...
and based in the
Saar
Saar or SAAR has several meanings:
People Given name
*Saar Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese professional football player
* Saar Ganor, Israeli archaeologist
*Saar Klein (born 1967), American film editor
Surname
* Ain Saar (born 1968), Est ...
region. In 1939 it fought with the
4th Army in Poland. In June 1940 they broke through the Maginot line to the Moselle near
Nancy.
In
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
in June 1941 the corps were attached to Panzer Group 2 for the attack on the stronghold of
Brest-Litovsk
Brest ( be, Брэст / Берасьце, Bieraście, ; russian: Брест, ; uk, Берестя, Berestia; lt, Brasta; pl, Brześć; yi, בריסק, Brisk), formerly Brest-Litovsk (russian: Брест-Литовск, lit=Lithuanian Br ...
. After advancing further into Russia they were held up by Soviet counter-attacks.
Following
Operation Bagration
Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп ...
, the huge Soviet counter-attack in 1944, XII Corps were forced to retreat in bad condition and in July 1944 were finally destroyed in a pocket east of
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
. General Müller was taken prisoner.
The corps was reformed in April 1945 to defend the middle
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
and
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
under General
Herbert Osterkamp.
Commanders
* Infantry General ''(
General der Infanterie)''
Walther Schroth, 4 February 1938 – 9 April 1940
* Colonel-general ''(
Generaloberst)''
Gotthard Heinrici
Gotthard Fedor August Heinrici (25 December 1886 – 10 December 1971) was a German general during World War II. Heinrici is considered as the premier defensive expert of the ''Wehrmacht''. His final command was Army Group Vistula, formed from t ...
, 9 April – 17 June 1940
* Infantry General ''(
General der Infanterie)''
Walther Schroth, 17 June 1940 – 19 February 1942
* Infantry General ''(
General der Infanterie)''
Walther Graeßner, 19 February 1942 – 18 February 1943
* Infantry General ''(
General der Infanterie)''
Kurt von Tippelskirch, 18 February 1943 – 4 June 1944
* Lieutenant-general ''(
Generalleutnant)''
Vincenz Müller, 4 June – 5 July 1944
After reformation
* Artillery General ''(
General der Artillerie
General der Artillerie ( en: General of the artillery) may mean:
1. A rank of three-star general, comparable to modern armed forces OF-8 grade, in the Imperial German Army and its contingency armies of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Württemberg. ...
)''
Herbert Osterkamp, April 1945 –8 May 1945
Area of Operation
* Poland : September 1939 - May 1940
* France : May 1940 - June 1941
* Eastern Front, Central sector : June 1941 - May 1944
* Minsk : May 1944 - July 1944
* South-west Germany : July 1944 - February 1945
References
* Article based on equivalent articles (
:de:Armeekorps (Wehrmacht)) on German Wikipedia and (
:fr:10e corps d'armée (Allemagne) on French Wikipedia.
*
Percy Ernst Schramm (Hrsg.): ''Kriegstagebuch des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht'', Bernard & Graefe Verlag für Wehrwesen, Frankfurt am Main 1965.
** Volume I: 1940/41 written by
Hans-Adolf Jacobsen.
** Volume II: 1942 written by
Andreas Hillgruber, Bernard & Graefe Verlag für Wehrwesen, Frankfurt am Main 1965.
** Voume III: 1943 written by
Walther Hubatsch, Bernard & Graefe Verlag für Wehrwesen, Frankfurt am Main 1965.
*
Georg Tessin
Georg may refer to:
* ''Georg'' (film), 1997
*Georg (musical), Estonian musical
* Georg (given name)
* Georg (surname)
* , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker
See also
* George (disambiguation)
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* G ...
: ''Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939 – 1945'', Frankfurt/Main and Osnabrück 1966.
* Rolf Hinze: ''Zusammenbruch der Heeresgruppe Mitte 1944'', Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart 1992.
* Rolf Hinze: ''Das Ostfront Drama 1944'', Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart 1987.
{{Subject bar
, portal1=Military of Germany
, portal2=World War II
Army,12
Military units and formations established in 1936
1936 establishments in Germany
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945