[1] It remained with Army Group North for the most part of the war except for a brief spell south while participating in the battle of Kursk in July 1943 and the following defensive operations and retreat after the German failure.

The division returned to the northern sector in January 1944 but came too late to play any role in the unsuccessful German efforts to prevent the Siege of Leningrad from being broken by the Red Army.

[2] When the major Soviet summer offensive ("Operation Bagration") against Army Group Centre began on 22 June, 12th Panzer Division was identified as one of the available formations for a potential counterattack.

Delays in military transport weakened available forces further, restricting the strength of the division in the critical area to a sole battalion of the 25th Panzergrenadier Regiment as well as one panzer company.

The major counterattack that Hitler had personally ordered 12th Panzer Division to undertake was thus a thrust of an incomplete mechanized infantry battalion supported by 10 medium tanks.