XII Corps (United Kingdom)
| XII Corps | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1915-1919; 1940-1945 |
| Country |
 United Kingdom
|
| Branch |
 British Army
|
| Type | Corps |
| Size | Around 60,000 men (World War II). |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Sir Henry Fuller Maitland Wilson Bernard Montgomery Neil Ritchie |
XII Corps was an army corps of the British Army that fought in World War I and World War II. In World War I, it formed part of the British Salonika Force on the Macedonian front. In World War II, it formed part of the British Second Army during the Invasion of Normandy and the North-West Europe Campaign of 1944-45.
XII Corps was formed in France on 8 September 1915 under the command of Lt-Gen Sir Henry Fuller Maitland Wilson. In November 1915, XII Corps was sent from France with 22nd, 26th and 28th Divisions under command to reinforce Allied forces on the Macedonian front. Wilson and his corps headquarters (HQ) arrived at the port of Salonika on 12 November, but the commander of the British Salonika Force (BSF) took XII Corp’s staff to establish his own HQ. On 14 December 1915, the War Office sanctioned the establishment of two corps within the BSF and Wilson reformed XII Corps.
After a period holding the defensive position known as ‘the Birdcage’ around Salonika, XII Corps moved up-country in July 1916, taking over former French positions, but only part was involved in the fighting during the summer and autumn. XII Corps was selected to attack the Bulgarian positions west of Lake Doiran in April 1917. The area to be attacked was ‘a defender’s dream, being a tangled mass of hills cut by numerous ravines’. Wilson planned a three-stage operation to capture the three lines of defences, preceded by a short intense bombardment. The BSF’s commander, Sir George Milne decided that his manpower was too limited, and reduced this to a smaller assault on the first defence line only, preceded by a three-day bombardment to neutralise enemy batteries and destroy trenches and barbed wire. This, of course, lost the element of surprise and the Bulgarians were well aware of what was coming. Only three brigades were engaged, but the casualties were high and little ground was gained. In a second attack two weeks later, the assault troops managed to cross no man’s land, but it was difficult to get information back to HQs, and some companies simply disappeared.
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