12th Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht)
| 12th Infantry Division 12th Volksgrenadier Division |
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|---|---|
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| Active | 1 October 1934 – July 1944 September 1944 – 18 April 1945 |
| Country |
 Nazi Germany
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| Branch | Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Garrison/HQ | Schwerin |
The 12th Infantry Division (German: "12. Infanteriedivision") – later known as the 12th Volksgrenadier Division – was a Wehrmacht military unit of Nazi Germany that fought during World War II. The division was formed in 1934. It participated in the invasion of Poland in 1939 and the 1940 campaign in France and the Low Countries. In the Soviet Union, the division joined Operation Barbarossa. The division was destroyed in the Soviet Operation Bagration in the summer of 1944. The division was re-activated in September 1944 and posted to the newly created Western Front.
The division was formed in 1934 from Pomerania's Mecklenburger population, with its home station being in Schwerin. In order to hide Germany's remilitarisation – a breaking of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles – the unit was codenamed Infanterieführer II to disguise its size. It did not assume its bona-fide designation until the creation of the Wehrmacht was announced in October 1935, where it was redesignated as the 12th Infantry Division. Alongside the name change, Lieutenant General Wilhelm Ulex was placed in charge of the division, before being replaced by Major General Albrecht Schubert the following October. Schubert was promoted to Lieutenant General in March 1938. In November, the command over the 89th Infantry Regiment's 1st Battalion was given to Helmuth Beukemann. In July 1939, the division was moved to Koenigsburg, East Prussia as Germany prepared for the upcoming invasion of Poland, ordered into the 1st Army's I Army Corps.
The 12th Infantry took part in the invasion of Poland.
During the 1940 assault on France and the Low Countries, the division helped beat back an Anglo-French assault on an associated Panzer column in the hopes of relieving troops besieged in Belgium during their full-on retreat. Following the campaign, the division remained stationed in the region until May 1941 in an occupational capacity, when it was ordered to return to East Prussia.
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