12th (Eastern) Division

12th (Eastern) Division 12th (Eastern) Infantry Division
Insignia of the 12th (Eastern) Division, First World War
Active	First World War: August 1914–22 March 1919 Second World War: 7 October 1939–10 July 1940
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Division
Engagements	Battle of Épehy

The 12th (Eastern) Division was an infantry division raised by the British Army during the Great War from men volunteering for Kitchener's New Armies. The division saw service in the trenches of the Western Front from June 1915 to the end of the war. The division was raised again, now as part of the Territorial Army, prior to the Second World War and saw service in France and Dunkirk in May 1940. However, it was disbanded shortly after returning to England due to the number of casualties that it took.

The 12th (Eastern) Division, was one of the first Kitchener's Army divisions raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener. It was formed within Eastern Command as a result of Army Order No. 324 of 21 August 1914, as part of the K1 wave of divisions. It fought on the Western Front for the duration of the First World War. One of its most notable actions was the Battle of Épehy where there is a memorial cross to the 12th Division.

In the First World War, the division's insignia was the Ace of Spades, which has since been adopted by the present 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade.

Throughout the spring and summer of 1939 the Territorial Army (formerly the Territorial Force until renamed in the 1920s) was ordered by the British government to be doubled in size, in order to meet the increasing threat being posed by Nazi Germany. As a consequence, all Territorial formations were ordered to form a 2nd Line duplicate and so the 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division formed an exact mirror duplicate, to be known as the 12th (Eastern) Infantry Division.