12th Mechanized Brigade (United Kingdom)

The 12th Mechanized Brigade is a regular British Army brigade which has been in existence since 1899 and now forms part of 3rd Mechanised Division.

Second Boer War
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.

First World War
During the First World War, the 12th Infantry 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.

Brigade units during the First World War included:
 * 1st Battalion, The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster)
 * 2nd Battalion, the Lancashire Fusiliers
 * 2nd Battalion, The Essex Regiment
 * 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) (from January 1916 to 10th Bde. February 1918)
 * 2nd Battalion, The Royal Irish Regiment (from March 1915, to 11th Bde. July 1915)
 * 1/5th Battalion, The South Lancashire Regiment (from February 1915 until January 1916)
 * 1/2nd Battalion, The Monmouthshire Regiment (until January 1916)

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

Second World War
During the Second World War, except for a few brief periods of detachment, the brigade formed part of 4th Infantry Division. It was part of the British Expeditionary Force and took part in the Dunkirk evacuation in May 1940. It moved to North Africa in February 1943 to take part in the later stages of the Tunisia 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 By October 1944 the Division was taking part in Eighth Army's battle on the Gothic Line but was withdrawn in November to spend the rest of the war in Greece, part of the Allied force tasked to prevent civil unrest as rival factions attempted to fill the political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.

Brigade units during the Second World War included:
 * 1st Battalion, Black Watch
 * 1st Bn. The South Lancashire Regiment
 * 2nd Bn. The Royal Fusiliers
 * 6th Bn. Black Watch
 * 1st Bn. The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment

Commanders during the Second World War included:
 * 3 September 1939 Brigadier John Clark
 * 20 October 1939 Brig. John Hawkesworth
 * 18 June 1940 Brig. Daniel Beak
 * 10 December 1941 Brig. R.G.W. Callaghan
 * 14 April 1943 Lieutenant Colonel J.M. Haycroft (Acting)
 * 17 April 1943 Brig. Richard Hull
 * 17 June 1943 Brig. Gordon MacMillan
 * 22 June 1943 Lt-Col. B.J.G Madden (Acting)
 * 29 June 1943 Lt-Col. J.M. Haycroft (Acting)
 * 7 July 1943 Lt Col. T.P.D. Scott
 * 12 November 1943 Brig. F.M. Elliott
 * 26 April 1944 Brig. A.G.W. Heber-Percy

Post-1945
The Brigade was disbanded in March 1947, but reformed from 91 Lorried Infantry Brigade in April 1956. After being briefly converted to "Task Force Delta" in the late 1970s, the brigade was reinstated in 1981. Moved to 1st Armoured Division, it remained, with a spell under HQ 3rd Armoured Division during Operation Granby, until disbandment under Options for Change. Following the Strategic Defence Review in 1998, the brigade was reformed in mechanized form under 3rd Armoured Division at Aldershot: it relocated to Ward Barracks in Bulford in February 2004.

Present
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. Under Army 2020, its headquarters will remain at Bulford and it will form part of the Reaction Force. It will be renamed 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade.


 * 12 Mechanized Brigade Units 2013
 * 228 Signal Squadron (Brigade Headquarters)
 * The King's Royal Hussars (Armoured)
 * The Light Dragoons (Formation Reconnaissance)
 * 3rd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) (Duke of Wellington's) (Armoured Infantry)
 * 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment (Mechanized Infantry)
 * 1st Battalion, The Royal Welsh (The Royal Welch Fusiliers) (Light Role Infantry)
 * 3rd Battalion, The Rifles (Light Role Infantry)
 * 1st battalion, Grenadier Guards (light role infantry)
 * Affiliated units:
 * 19 Regiment, Royal Artillery (Self Propelled Artillery)
 * 26 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers
 * 4 Close Support Battalion, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
 * 4 Logistic Support Regiment The Royal Logistics Corps
 * 4 Medical Regiment Royal Army Medical Corps

Army 2020
Under the Army 2020 reform the 12th Mechanized Brigade will be renamed as 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade and will form part of the 3rd Division, the Reaction Force, under plans confirmed by the Secretary of State for Defence, Phillip Hammond, on 5 July 2012.

Formation structure
Regular units only

Brigade Commanders
Recent commanders have included:
 * 1956-1957 Brigadier IH Freeland
 * 1970-1972 Brigadier DT Young
 * 1984-1986 Brigadier JJ Mackenzie
 * 1989-1990 Brigadier JMFC Hall
 * 1999-2002 Brigadier J Cooper
 * 2002-2003 Brigadier JD Shaw
 * 2005-2007 Brigadier JG Lorimer
 * 2007-2009 Brigadier DM Cullen