12th (Howitzer) Brigade Royal Field Artillery

XII (Howitzer) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery was a brigade[lower-alpha 1] of the Royal Field Artillery which served in the First World War.

It was originally formed with 43rd, 86th and 87th (Howitzer) Batteries, each equipped with 4.5-inch howitzers, and attached to 6th Infantry Division. In August 1914 it mobilised and in September was sent to the Continent with the British Expeditionary Force, where it saw service with 6th Division until broken up. 86th Battery was withdrawn in May 1915, and assigned to 127th (Howitzer) Brigade.

In May 1916, the artillery brigades of infantry divisions were reorganised; the pure howitzer brigades were disbanded, and their batteries attached individually to field brigades, in order to produce mixed brigades of three field batteries and one howitzer battery. Accordingly, the brigade was broken up and the batteries dispersed; 43rd to 24th Brigade, and 87th Battery to 2nd Brigade.

Notes
  1. The basic organic unit of the Royal Artillery was, and is, the Battery.[1] When grouped together they formed brigades, in the same way that infantry battalions or cavalry regiments were grouped together in brigades. At the outbreak of World War I, a field artillery brigade of headquarters (4 officers, 37 other ranks), three batteries (5 and 193 each), and a brigade ammunition column (4 and 154)[2] had a total strength just under 800 so was broadly comparable to an infantry battalion (just over 1,000) or a cavalry regiment (about 550). Like an infantry battalion, an artillery brigade was usually commanded by a Lieutenant-Colonel. Artillery brigades were redesignated as regiments in 1938.

References
  1. "The Royal Artillery". Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom). Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  2. Baker, Chris. "What was an artillery brigade?". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
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