[4] It was considered by the Germans that an Allied attack on Belgium (if not France) was far more likely than one on the Netherlands; as such, infantry divisions were more concentrated here.

[5] In September 1944, the division was defending the banks of the Scheldt river near Antwerp when it was attacked by Poles serving under General Guy Simonds.

[6] After suffering heavy casualties when the Allied forces made their way into the Netherlands, the 712th was reformed and sent to the eastern front.

With the Red Army being supplied by an ever-increasing arsenal of weapons and vehicles, the division was unable to match them in Poland, and was decimated along the river Oder in February/March 1945.

[2][7] In mid-April, the division took part in opening stages of the Battle of the Seelow Heights[3][8] The army was able to hold of the Soviet advance for only about three days before being forced to retreat to a pocket around the towns of Frankfurt and Fürstenwalde along the Spreewald.