The division saw service in the trenches of the Western Front from June 1915 to the end of the war.

It was formed within Eastern Command as a result of Army Order No.

[1] 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.