The 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team, formerly the 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade, is a regular brigade of the British Army which has existed almost continuously since 1899 and now forms part of the 3rd (United Kingdom) Division.
The 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team, formerly the 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade, is a regular brigade of the British Army which has existed almost continuously since 1899 and now forms part of the 3rd (United Kingdom) Division.
British Army brigades had traditionally been ad hoc formations known by the name of their commander or numbered as part of a division. However, units involved in the Second Boer War in 1899 were organised into sequentially numbered brigades frequently reassigned between divisions. 6th Division, consisting of the 12th and 13th Brigades, was formed on 30 November and landed in South Africa during January 1900. It was moved up to Nauwpoort, where the 12th Brigade under the command of Major-General R.A.P. Clements was pushed forward to reinforce the Cavalry Division. When the field force was reorganised after the capture of Bloemfontein, the 12th Brigade returned to the command of the 6th Division. [4] [5] [6] [7] The brigade saw action at the Battle of Rensburg, Battle of Norval's Point, Battle of Biddulph's Berg and Battle of Slabbert's Nek. [8]
However, after the defeat of the main Boer field armies and the development of guerrilla warfare, all the divisions and brigades were broken up to form ad hoc 'columns' and garrisons. Battalions were detached from 12th Bde during operations in the Brandwater Basin in July 1900, and Maj-Gen Clements had detachments of Mounted infantry and Imperial Yeomanry attached to his command. [9] By the end of the year, Clements was an important column commander, but none of his units came from his original 12th Brigade. [10]
The 12th Brigade was originally constituted as follows: [11] [12]
After the Boer War, the 12th Brigade became a permanent headquarters in 1902, stationed with the 6th Division at Plymouth. [13] By 1907, it was still part of the 6th Division, but now stationed at Colchester in Eastern Command. [14] In the Expeditionary Force established by the Haldane reforms, the 12th Brigade at Colchester and later at Dover became part of the 4th Division. It remained so until the outbreak of World War I. [15]
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 remaining conflict engaged in trench warfare. [8] [1] [2]
The 12th Brigade was constituted as follows during the war: [1] [2]
From early November 1915 until February 1916, the 12th Brigade was swapped with the 107th (Ulster) Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division.
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 the 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 participate in the Tunisian Campaign's later stages, where it 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. Still, it 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. [8] [16]
The 12th Infantry Brigade was constituted as follows during the war: [16]
The brigade was disbanded in March 1947, but reformed as the 91st Lorried Infantry Brigade in April 1956. [8] During the 1970s, it was one of two "square" brigades assigned to the 2nd Armoured Division. [18] After being briefly converted to "Task Force Delta" in the late 1970s, the brigade was reinstated in 1981 as 12th Armoured Brigade, assigned to 1st Armoured Division and based at Quebec Barracks at Osnabrück. [19] [20] [21] It remained with the 1st Armoured Division, apart from a spell under HQ 3rd Armoured Division during Operation Granby, until disbandment under Options for Change. [8] Following the Strategic Defence Review in 1998, the brigade was reformed as a mechanized unit under the 3rd Mechanised Division at Aldershot Garrison; it relocated to Ward Barracks in Bulford Camp in February 2004. [8]
Under the Future Soldier programme, the brigade has been redesignated as the 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team. In the future, it will control a reconnaissance regiment (KRH) equipped with the General Dynamics Ajax. The current armoured regiment (RTR) will be re-equipped with the Challenger 3 MBT, and the armoured infantry battalions with the Warrior IFV will be re-equipped with the Boxer AFV. [22]
The current organisation of the brigade under the Defence in a Competitive Age is: [23]
Brigade commanders have included: [24]