The XII SS Army Corps was a

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

of the ''

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

''. It saw action on both the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and Eastern Fronts during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

History

The corps was formed on 1 August 1944 in

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

from the remnants of ''Kampfgruppe von Gottberg'' and the LIII Army Corps, and added to the

3rd Panzer Army The 3rd Panzer Army () was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 3rd Panzer Group on 1 January 1942. 3rd Panzer Group The 3rd Panzer Group () was formed on 16 November 1940. It was a constituent part of Army Grou ...

. From September 1944, it fought in the Western Front as part of the

1st Parachute Army The 1st Parachute Army () was a combined forces between airborne forces (Fallschirmjäger), armoured, and mechanized infantry unit of German Army, formed in September, 1944, comprising 30,000 men. History Its first commander was Colonel Gene ...

. Later it fought under the 15th Army on the

Siegfried Line The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall (= western bulwark)'', was a German defensive line built during the late 1930s. Started in 1936, opposite the French Maginot Line, it stretched more than from Kleve on the border with the ...

and the Ruhr Front. The corps was surrounded and destroyed in the Ruhr pocket in April 1945.

Commanders

* 1 August 1944: ''SS-

Obergruppenführer (, ) was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissioned SS rank after ...

und General der Waffen-SS''

Matthias Kleinheisterkamp Matthias Kleinheisterkamp (22 June 1893 – 29 April 1945) was a high-ranking German SS commander during the Nazi era. Reaching the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer, he commanded the SS Division Totenkopf, SS Division Nord, SS Division Das Rei ...

* 6 August 1944: ''SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS'' Curt von Gottberg * 18 October 1944: ''SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS'' Karl Maria Demelhuber * 20 October 1944: ''

General der Infanterie General of the infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to: * General of the Infantry (Austria) * General of the Infantry (Bulgaria) * General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Impe ...

Günther Blumentritt Günther Blumentritt (10 February 1892 – 12 October 1967) was an officer in World War I, who became a Staff Officer under the Weimar Republic and went on to serve as a general for Nazi Germany during World War II. He served throughout the war, ...

* 20 January 1945: ''

Generalleutnant () is the German-language variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO ...

'' Fritz Bayerlein * 29 January 1945: ''Generalleutnant'' Eduard Crasemann

Orders of battle

16 September 1944 * 548th Grenadier Division * 7th Panzer Division logo 2

7th Panzer Division 1 March 1945 * 176th Infanterie-Division Logo

176th Infantry Division * 183rd Infanterie-Division Logo 1

183rd Volksgrenadier Division * 338

338th Infantry Division * SS Pz Lehr divisional insignia

Panzer-Lehr-Division

Sources

* Rolf Stoves: Die gepanzerten und motorisierten deutschen Großverbände 1935–1945. Ed. Dörfler im Nebel-Verlag, Eggolsheim 2003, {{DEFAULTSORT:12 Waffen-SS corps Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945