2-12^th Artillery Regiment was raised on 1^st March 1947 in Ede. It was made up of conscripts from the year 1946. It left for Dutch East India onboard “Zuiderkruis” on 11^th June 1947 and arrived on 10^th July 1947 in Semarang. Here it was stationed in Oud Tjiandi.
It was planned that 2-12^th Artillery Regiment should take over the task and equipment from 1^st Unit Artillery KNIL. But because of the tense situation this was postponed.
During the 1^st Police Action the personnel was distributed between 1^st Unit Artillery KNIL, 2-2^nd Artillery Regiment and the Staff Company Tijger Brigade to get some practical experience.
After the 1^st Police Action it finally become possible to make a “3 gun” battery with a lot of difficulty and hard work. Beside this the unit got an infantry task for Basis Command Semarang.
On 25^th November 1947 the unit finally relieved 1st Unit Artillery KNIL and came under command of the Tijger Brigade again. D. Battery was stationed in Ambarawa on 26^th November and C Battery was stationed in Soemonowo on 16^th December 1947 both in support of 2-7^th Infantry Regiment. Beside the artillery task they also did guard duty and run patrols. And on 9^th January 1948 the area started to be peaceful.
The 2^nd Police Action 1948 started for 2-12^th Artillery Regiment together with 2-2^nd Artillery Regiment with whom they fired a barrage of 1000 grenades on 19th December 1948. C. Battery was attached to the armed advance unit and reached Bojohali on 20^th December 1948 and Joggjakarta the day after.
On 23^rd December 1948 they took over the responsibility in the northern part of Jogjakarta from 1-15^th Infantry Regiment. But a few hours later they were transferred to the W-Brigade with whom they operated during the rest of their stay in Dutch East India.
The 2-12^th Artillery Regiment left the Dutch East Indies onboard “Fair Sea” on 9^th March 1950 and arrived in Rotterdam on 5^th April 1950.