12th Armoured Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)

The brigade was first formed in December 1899 as 12th Infantry Brigade and saw action at the Battle of Rensburg, Battle of Norval's Point, Battle of Biddulph's Berg and Battle of Slabbert's Nek.[1]

During the First World War, the 12th Brigade, a regular army formation, was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division. It was dispatched to France, crossing the English Channel on 22 August 1914, as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and saw action in the First Battle of the Marne beginning in September 1914. It then spent much of the rest of the conflict engaged in trench warfare.[1]

The 12th Brigade was constituted as follows during the war:

• 1st Battalion, King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment)
• 2nd Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers
• 2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment
• 2nd Battalion, Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) (from January 1916 to 10th Brigade February 1918)
• 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment (from March 1915, to 11th Brigade July 1915)
• 1/5th Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment (from February 1915 until January 1916)
• 1/2nd Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment (until January 1916)

From early November 1915 until February 1916 the 12th Brigade was swapped with the 107th (Ulster) Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division.

Men of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers in a trench in front of the Maginot Line, 3 January 1940.

During the Second World War, except for a few brief periods of detachment, the brigade formed part of the 4th Infantry Division, as in the First World War. It was part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and took part in Battle of France and the subsequent Dunkirk evacuation in May–June 1940.

The brigade remained in the United Kingdom for the next two years, preparing and training to repel Operation Sea Lion, the German invasion of England, although that never arrived. It moved to North Africa in February 1943 to take part in the later stages of the Tunisian Campaign and saw action at the Battle of Oved Zara, the Battle of Medjez Plain and the Battle of Tunis. It then took part in the Italian Campaign, moving to Naples in February 1944 and saw further action at the Fourth Battle of Monte Cassino. By October 1944 the 4th Division was taking part in the British Eighth Army's battle on the Gothic Line but was withdrawn in November to spend the rest of the war in Greece, part of the Allied force tasked to prevent civil unrest as rival factions attempted to fill the political vacuum when the Germans withdrew from the country.[1]

The 12th Infantry Brigade was constituted as follows during the war:

• 2nd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
• 1st Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment (until June 1940)
• 1st Battalion, Black Watch (until March 1940)
• 6th Battalion, Black Watch (from March 1940)
• 1st Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment (from September 1940)

The brigade was disbanded in March 1947, but reformed from 91 Lorried Infantry Brigade in April 1956.[1] During the 1970s, it was one of two "square" brigades assigned to 2nd Armoured Division.[2] After being briefly converted to "Task Force Delta" in the late 1970s, the brigade was reinstated in 1981,[3] assigned to 1st Armoured Division[4] and based at Quebec Barracks at Osnabrück.[5] It remained with 1st Armoured Division, apart from a spell under HQ 3rd Armoured Division during Operation Granby, until disbandment under Options for Change.[1] Following the Strategic Defence Review in 1998, the brigade was reformed in mechanized form under 3rd Mechanised Division at Aldershot Garrison: it relocated to Ward Barracks in Bulford Camp in February 2004.[1]

The brigade headquarters, with two battle groups – the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment and the 1st Battalion The Grenadier Guards – deployed to Afghanistan in 2007 to form the headquarters and main infantry combat units of Task Force Helmand as a part of the NATO International Security Assistance Force.[6] Under Army 2020, its headquarters remains at Bulford and it forms part of the Reaction Force. It has been renamed 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade and includes the following units:[7][8][9][10]

• The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths' Own) (Formation Reconnaissance)
• The King's Royal Hussars (Armoured)
• 1st Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) (Armoured Infantry)
• 1st Battalion, The Royal Welsh (Armoured Infantry)
• 1st Battalion, Scots Guards (Heavy Protective Mobility) (Note: This Heavy Protected Mobility Infantry Unit rotates amongst the five Foot Guards Battalions)[11]

The current organisation of the brigade under the Army 2020 Refine is:[12]

• 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade Headquarters, at Bulford Barracks, Bulford Garrison[12]
• Royal Tank Regiment, at Aliwal Barracks, Tidworth Garrison (Armoured (Tanks))
• 1st Battalion, The Mercian Regiment, at Picton Barracks, Bulford Garrison (Armoured Infantry)
• 1st Battalion, The Royal Welsh, at Lucknow Barracks, Tidworth Garrison (Armoured Infantry)
• 4th Battalion, The Mercian Regiment, Battalion HQ in Wolverhampton, West Midlands (Army Reserve – Armoured Infantry, paired with 1 MERCIAN)
• 3rd Battalion, The Royal Welsh, Battalion HQ in Cardiff, Wales (Army Reserve – Armoured Infantry, paired with 1 R WELSH)

Although not part of the brigade, the following units support the brigade:

• 15th Signal Regiment, Royal Corps of Signals, at Swinton Barracks, Perham Down (part of 11th Signal Brigade and Headquarters West Midlands)
• 1st Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery, at Assaye Barracks, Tidworth Garrison[13] (part of 1st Artillery Brigade)
• 104th Regiment, Royal Artillery, Regimental HQ in Cardiff (Army Reserve – paired with 1 Regiment RHA, part of 1st Artillery Brigade)
• 22nd Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, at Swinton Barracks, Perham Down[14] (part of 25 (Close Support) Engineer Group)
• 4th Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, at Dalton Barracks, Abingdon (part of 101 Logistic Brigade))
• 10th (Queen's Own Gurkha) Logistic Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps, at Gale Barracks, Aldershot Garrison (part of 101 Logistic Brigade)
• 154th (Scottish) Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps, HQ in Dunfermline, Fife (Army Reserve – Paired with 10 Regiment RLC, part of 101 Logistic Brigade)
• 4th Armoured Medical Regiment, Royal Army Medical Corps, at Normandy Barracks, Aldershot Garrison (part of 101 Logistic Brigade)
• 4th Close Support Battalion, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, at Jellalabad Barracks, Tidworth Garrison (part of 101 Logistic Brigade)
• 103rd Close Support Battalion, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, HQ in Northampton (Army Reserve – Paired with 4 Btn REME, part of 101 Logistic Brigade)