The12th Army(German:12. Armee) was aWorld War IIfield armyof theWehrmacht.
| 12th Army | |
|---|---|
| German:12. Armee | |
 Soldiers from the 12th Army on the Acropolis of Athens | |
| Active | 13 October 1939 – 31 December 1942 April - May 1945 |
| Country |  Nazi Germany |
| Branch |  German army( Wehrmacht) |
| Size | Field army |
| Part of | Army Group A (May 1940) OKH/OKW (1941) OKW (1942/43) |
| Engagements | Battle of France Invasion of Yugoslavia Invasion of Greece Battle of Berlin |
History
editThe 12th Army was activated on October 13, 1939, with GeneralWilhelm Listin command.[1]First seeing defensive action along theSiegfried Line,the army was part ofRundstedt'sArmy Group Aresponsible for theArdennesoffensive. It had under its command seven infantry divisions and one mountain division in May 1940. After the breakthrough on theMeusenearSedan,the infantry divisions fought their way to theAisne.In the ensuingFall Rotthe army marched to the Swiss border and secured thedemarcation linewithZone libre.For the rest of 1940 the army was assigned to occupation duties in France.[2]
Balkan campaign
editIn February 1941, an agreement between Field Marshal List and theBulgarianGeneral Staff allowed the passage of German troops. On the night of February 28, German Army units crossed theDanubefrom Romania and took up strategic positions in Bulgaria.
On 6 April, units of the 12th army advanced into Yugoslavia and Greece. TheYugoslavs crumbled first.After six months of fighting the Italians, theGreeks could not stand up to the 12th Army's fifteen divisions,four of which were armored. As the Greek army capitulated, four Commonwealth divisions rushed from North Africa to aid the Greeks were forced to evacuate after defeats atOlympusandThermopylae.[3][2]Elements of the army then participated in the conquest ofCreteand the Aegean Islands. From June 1941 to the end of 1942 the army served occupation duties in Croatia, Serbia and Greece.
The 12th Army becameArmy Group E(Heeresgruppe E) on January 1, 1943.
Reactivation
editThe 12th Army was reconstituted on the Western Front near theElbe Riveron April 10, 1945.[4]With the command staff of the dissolvedArmy Group North,the army consisted ofXLVIII,XX,andXXXIArmy Corps.[2]Under GeneralWalther Wenck,the 12th Army made the last attempt by aGerman Armyto relieve the besieged capital during theBattle of Berlin.Although it successfully reachedPotsdam,the 12th Army was stopped by numerically superior SovietRed Armyforces and forced to abandon the effort to relieve Berlin. The 12th Army then linked up with the remnants of GeneralTheodor Busse's decimated9th Armysouth of Beelitz and, in the confusion of the Soviet breakthrough, provided a corridor to the west for soldiers and refugees alike to reach and cross the partially destroyed Elbe River bridge atTangermündeand surrender toAmerican forcesbetween May 4 and May 7, 1945.
Commanders
edit| No. | Portrait | Commander | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Generaloberst Wilhelm List (1880–1971) | 13 October 1939 | 29 October 1941 | 2 years, 16 days | |
| 2 | General der Pioniere Walter Kuntze (1883–1960) | 29 October 1941 | 2 July 1942 | 246 days | |
| 3 | Generaloberst Alexander Löhr (1885–1947) | 3 July 1942 | 31 December 1942 | 181 days | |
| 4 | General der Panzertruppe Walther Wenck (1900–1982) | 10 April 1945 | 7 May 1945 | 27 days |
See also
edit- 12th Army (German Empire)for the equivalent formation inWorld War I
- Battle of France
- Invasion of Yugoslavia
- Battle of Greece
- Battle of Berlin
References
edit- ^"12.Armee-Oberkommando".Feldgrau.Retrieved3 January2018.
- ^abcTessin, Georg (1973).Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939–1945.Vol. 3. Biblio Verlag. pp. 229–230.
- ^Shirer, William L. (1950,1962),The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany,pages 1079-1083, 34th Printing, published by Ballantine BooksISBN0-449-21977-1
- ^World War II Data Book, J. Ellis, 1993 Aurum Press, P 94.ISBN1854102540