The Oxfordshire Light Infantry

The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was a light infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1958, serving in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II.

The regiment was formed as a consequence of the 1881 Childers Reforms, a continuation of the Cardwell Reforms, by the amalgamation of the 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry), forming the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Oxfordshire Light Infantry on 1 July 1881. In 1908, as part of the Haldane Reforms, the regiment's title was altered to become the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, commonly shortened to the ''Ox and Bucks.''

After service in many conflicts and wars, the Ox and Bucks Light Infantry was, in 1948, reduced to a single Regular Army battalion and on 7 November 1958, following Duncan Sandys' 1957 Defence White Paper, it was renamed the 1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd), forming part of the Green Jackets Brigade.

Formation

The regiment was formed as a consequence of the 1881 Childers Reforms, a continuation of the Cardwell Reforms, by the amalgamation of the 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry), forming the 1st and 2nd battalions of the Oxfordshire Light Infantry on 1 July 1881. The former numerical titles of the battalions remained in unofficial usage. As part of the formation of the regiment, the following Volunteer Force and Militia units were placed under command of the regiment:

* 3rd (King's Own Royal Buckinghamshire Militia) Battalion based in High Wycombe
* 4th (Oxfordshire Militia) Battalion based in Oxford
* th1st Volunteer Battalion based in Great Marlow, former 1st Buckinghamshire Rifle Volunteer Corps
* th2nd Volunteer Battalion based in Oxford, former 2nd Oxfordshire Rifle Volunteer Corps
* th3rd (Oxford University) Volunteer Battalion based at Oxford University, former 1st (Oxford University) Oxfordshire Rifle Volunteer Corps
* th4th (Eton College) Volunteer Battalion based at Eton College, former 2nd (Eton College) Buckinghamshire Rifle Volunteer Corps

Operations across the Empire (1881–1914)

1st Battalion

The 43rd Foot was based in Burma when it became the 1st Battalion. In 1882 the unit moved to Bangalore, India. In 1887 the battalion returned home, being based in Parkhurst, England. It moved to Kinsale, Ireland in 1893 and, having been based in other parts of Ireland, returned to England in 1898. In December 1899 the Second Boer War began and the 1st Battalion arrived in Southern Africa to take part in it. It saw extensive service in the conflict, including in the relief of the besieged British garrison at Kimberley and in the defeat of the Boers at Paardeberg in February. The war raged on for a further two years; the regiment saw extensive service for the duration of the conflict. The Oxfordshires returned to the UK in September 1902 with the conclusion of the war, and was stationed at Chatham. It moved to India the following year where it was based until the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

2nd Battalion

The 52nd Light Infantry was based in Oxford, England, when it became the 2nd Battalion. This was the 52nd of Waterloo fame who, under the command of Colonel Sir John Colborne, broke a battalion of the Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard. In 1884 it arrived in Gibraltar and the following year the battalion took part in active service for the first time as a 2nd battalion when a detachment under the command of Lieutenant Scott was deployed as mounted infantry in the Nile Expedition. In 1886 it was based in India, where it would remain into the 20th century. During its stay the battalion formed part of the Peshawar column in the Tirah Expedition in the volatile North-West Frontier in 1897; where the battalion saw action in the Khyber Pass, around Koda Khel and Ali Masjid. In late 1902 the battalion transferred from Bombay to Poona, and in 1903 the battalion returned home. It was initially based in Chatham and in 1907 moved to Tidworth, Wiltshire. The battalion was stationed at Albuhera barracks, Aldershot, when World War I commenced.

On 16 October 1908, as part of the Haldane Reforms, the regiment's title was altered to become the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, commonly shortened to the ''Ox and Bucks''. Also in 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve; the regiment now had one Reserve battalion and two Territorial battalions.

First World War (1914–18)

During the war, the Ox and Bucks raised 12 battalions (17 in all), six of which fought on the Western Front, two in Italy, two in Macedonia and one in Mesopotamia. The regiment won 59 battle honours and four theatre honours. Many gallantry honours were awarded to the Ox and Bucks, including two Victoria Crossesthe most prestigious honour for bravery in the face of the enemythat were awarded to Company Sergeant Major Edward Brooks and Lance-Corporal Alfred Wilcox, both of the 2/4th Battalion. 5,878 officers and men of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry lost their lives during the First World War.

Western Front

In August 1914, the 2nd Ox and Bucks, commanded by Henry Rodolph Davies, arrived on the Western Front, as part of the 5th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Division, I Corps – the 2nd Division was one of the first divisions of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to arrive in France. The battalion took part in the first British battle of the war, at Mons, where the British defeated the German forces that they had encountered on 23 August. A combination of German numerical advantage and the French fifth Army's retreat led to the battalion subsequently taking part in the 220-mile retreat, in exceptionally hot weather, that began the following day, not stopping until just on the outskirts of Paris, then halting the German advance at the First Battle of the Marne (5–9 September). The 2nd Ox and Bucks later took part in all the subsidiary battles of the First Battle of Ypres (19 October – 22 November) that saw the heart ripped out of the old Regular Army, with 54,000 casualties being sustained. In the First Battle of Ypres the 2nd Ox and Bucks first engagement with the enemy was on 20 October in an attack on the Passchendaele ridge. The battalion had heavy casualties: four officers killed and five wounded and 143 other ranks killed or wounded. On 31 October the Germans launched a large scale attack against Lieutenant-General Sir Douglas Haig's I Corps in the area of Ypres which commenced with a heavy bombardment followed by a mass infantry attack; two companies of the 2nd Ox and Bucks took part in the defence and subsequent counter-attack which forced the enemy back to their front line. On 11 November the Germans made another attempt to capture Ypres, sending—on the orders of the German Kaiser—the élite Prussian Guard against the British forces. The 2nd Battalion counter-attacked them at Nonne Bosschen wood, preventing their advance and then routing them; almost one hundred years after the 52nd had defeated Napoleon's Imperial Guard at Waterloo. First Ypres was the last major battle of 1914. The 2nd Ox and Bucks sustained 632 casualties during the first five months of the war and by 1915 it was a very different battalion from that which had arrived on the Western Front at the start of the war.

In 1915 trench warfare commenced with both sides developing impregnable defences; leading to high casualties in return for minimal gains. At the Battle of Festubert (9–16 May) – which was launched in support of the French attack south of Vimy Ridge and included the first British night action of the war – the 2nd Ox and Bucks were part of the second wave of the 5th Brigade attack and, during the course of the battle, suffered just under 400 casualties: the largest number the regiment had sustained in a single battle since the Siege of Badajoz over 100 years earlier. The 2nd Ox and Bucks were involved in heavy fighting at Richebourg l'Avoue on 15–16 May. The 2nd Ox and Bucks and other battalions of the regiment also saw action at the Battle of Loos (25 September – 8 October): 2nd Ox and Bucks took part in the subsidiary attack at Givenchy with 263 casualties on 25 September. The Ox and Bucks 5th (Service) Battalion went into the Battle of Loos on 25 September 1915 at a strength of 17 officers and 767 men and only two officers and 180 men survived the battle. The 2nd Battalion took part in the subsequent attack against the Hohenzollern Redoubt (13–19 October). Following the battle of Loos few pre-1914 2nd Ox and Bucks officers remained, they had either become casualties or promoted to take up positions in other battalions. The gallantry awards made to members of the battalion for bravery during the battle of Loos included the award of the Distinguished Conduct Medals to CSM Fred Clare and to Acting Corporal Horace Duester.

In January 1916, the 2nd Ox and Bucks were at Cottes St. Hilaire; the 2nd Division was at that time taking its turn in the corps reserve. The battalion later moved to Bethune and then returned to the Festubert trenches. Lieutenant Colonel Richard Crosse took over command of the 2nd Ox and Bucks on 8 July 1916 and was to lead the battalion for the next three years. The 1/4th Ox and Bucks took part in the first day of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916, in which the British Army suffered over 60,000 casualties – the largest number sustained in a day by the British Army. The battalions of the Ox and Bucks on the Western Front saw extensive service during the Battle of the Somme (1 July – 18 November), suffering heavily, including at Mametz Wood, Pozières and at Ancre, the last major subsidiary battle. On 28 July the 2nd Ox and Bucks moved to front-line trenches near Waterlot farm and sustained heavy casualties at the battle there on 30 July. The 2nd Ox and Bucks fought on the Somme battlefield at Delville Wood, Guillemont and on 13 November in the battle of Beaumont Hamel: a large attack on the Redan Ridge in the battle of the Ancre. The 2nd Ox and Bucks sustained many casualties during the battle of Beaumont Hamel, including Captain Ralph Kite who within the previous 12 months, had been awarded the Military Cross and twice mentioned in despatches.

The New Year of 1917 brought with it a period of severe weather conditions on the Somme plain which led to an unofficial truce between the two sides. In March 1917, the Germans began the withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line (14 March – 5 April) and at the end of March the 2nd Ox and Bucks moved from the Somme to the back areas of Arras. The 2nd Ox and Bucks and other battalions of the regiment saw much involvement in the Arras Offensive (9 April – 16 May), including at the Battles of Scarpe and Arleux. The 2nd Ox and Bucks took part in the battle of Arras from 11 April and had a leading role in the battle of Arleux on 28–29 April: during the battle the battalion protected the right flank of the Canadian 1st Division which was critical to the capture of the village of Arleux and sustained more than 200 casualties. The battalions of the Ox and Bucks saw further service in many of the subsidiary battles during the Battle of Passchendaele (also known as Third Ypres) that took place between 31 July–6 November. Some of the battles that the Ox and Bucks took part in included Menin Road and Polygon Wood in September and early October. The 2nd Ox and Bucks and the 6th (Service) Battalion, Ox and Bucks also took part in the Battle of Cambrai (20 November–3 December) that saw the first large-scale use of tanks by the British and was the last major battle of the year.

In January 1918, the 2nd Ox and Bucks marched to Beaulencourt. They moved to Havrincourt Wood later that month, and then on 9 February to Metz-en-Couture. They were at Vallulart Camp, Ytres, when on 21 March 1918 the Germans launched the last-gasp Spring Offensive (Operation Michael), also known as the Ludendorf offensive, which led to the furthest advance by either side since 1914. The 2nd Ox and Bucks were due to go into the corps reserve when the enemy began a colossal bombardment of Allied positions and on 22 March 1918 were in position around the village of Bertincourt. They, and other battalions of the regiment, sustained heavy casualties as part of the defence of the Somme during the Battle of St. Quentin (21–23 March), the First Battle of Bapaume (24–25 March) and in subsequent battles that saw the Germans achieve significant gains as the battalion was forced back across the old Somme battlefield to the 1916 line on the Ancre. The battalion remained in the Ancre area from 29 March 1918 to 3 April 1918.

One soldier who arrived on Sunday 7 April as one of the reinforcements to replace the 2/4th Battalion (184th Brigade, 1st Division) recorded that they had been reduced to 22 survivors with one rifle and three sets of webbing between them, commenting, 'I doubt if in the whole war any battalion was wiped out so completely'.

After the enemy Spring offensive lost its momentum, the Germans launched Operation Georgette in April which the Ox and Bucks defended against in the Battle of the Lys and subsequent actions.

In the summer of 1918, the 2nd Ox and Bucks held the line at Bailleulemont, near Arras. By August the German offensives had failed and the Allies had launched a counter-attack. In August the 2nd Ox and Bucks took part in the Battle of Albert (1918) (21–23 August) and the Second Battle of Bapaume (31 August – 3 September) while the 2/4th Ox and Bucks and the 2/1st Buckinghamshires (both part of 184th Brigade of 61st Division) took part in the advance into Flanders, with both offensives seeing the Allies advance to the Hindenburg Line by early September. The 2nd Ox and Bucks took part in the offensive against it that saw the Allies break through the defences, taking part in the Battle of Havrincourt (12 September), Battle of the Canal du Nord (27 September – 1 October) and the Second Battle of Cambrai (8–9 October). The regiment then took part in the last actions of the war, taking part in the Battle of the Selle and the Battle of Valenciennes. The 2nd Ox and Bucks' last action of the war was the battle for Escarmain on 23 October 1918 during the Battle of the Selle (17–25 October) The Germans continued to be driven back.

The war ended on 11 November 1918 with the signing of the Armistice between the Allies and Germany. Following their leading role in the final British offensive, the 2nd Ox and Bucks were at St.Pol, near Valenciennes, after the Armistice. The 2nd Ox and Bucks crossed the German frontier at Malmedy on 9 December 1918. The battalion was later stationed in Zons, near Cologne, as part of the army of occupation. At the end of the war there were only 66 2nd Ox and Bucks of all ranks still serving with the battalion from those that had left Aldershot, Hampshire, for the Western Front on 13 August 1914: of these 39 served throughout the war.

Mesopotamia

The 1st Ox and Bucks, as part of the 17th (Ahmednagar) Brigade, 6th (Poona) Division, left India for Mesopotamia (now Iraq) in November 1914; there, the battalion took part in the campaign against the Ottoman forces that ruled the country.

The battalion took part in the march towards Kut-al-Amara with the intention of capturing it from the Ottomans. The battle for Kut began on 26 September 1915 and raged for a number of days until the Ottomans went into retreat and Kut was captured on 28 September. The battalion then took part in the Battle of Ctesiphon (22–24 November) during the pursuit of the Ottoman forces and in the effort to capture the capital Baghdad, which ended in the 6th Poona Division being defeated by the Ottomans. 635 officers and men of the battalion fought in the battle of Ctesiphon and 304 became casualties. The Division subsequently retreated to Kut, reaching it on 3 December, where it was besieged by the Ottomans, beginning on 7 December, with a garrison of 10,000 Britons and Indians. The Ottomans launched numerous attempts to take Kut, all of which were repulsed by the defenders, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. The British launched numerous attempts to relieve Kut, all of which failed with heavy losses. On 26 April 1916—supplies had dwindled significantly and many of the garrison's defenders were suffering from sickness—the garrison negotiated a cease-fire with the Ottomans and on 29 April the British-Indian force of 8,000 surrendered to the Ottomans, including 400 men of the 1st Ox and Bucks. Many of the Ox and Bucks taken at Kut, like the rest of the prisoners, suffered mistreatment by the Ottomans; only 71 of all ranks of the 1st Ox and Bucks who had been taken prisoner returned home to the UK. It is estimated that just under 2,000 Britons and up to 3,000 Indians perished in captivity.

A Provisional Battalion had been formed in January 1916 from reinforcements intended for the 1st Ox and Bucks, joining the 28th Indian Brigade, 7th (Meerut) Division. The battalion joined the Lines of Communication (LoC) force and the Provisional Battalion was re-titled the 1st Battalion on 6 July 1917. On 19 October 1917 the battalion transferred to the 50th Indian Brigade, 15th Indian Division. By then, the British had taken Baghdad and were gradually pushing the Ottomans further back. Between 26 and 27 March 1918 it took part in fighting against the Ottomans at Khan Baghdadi. The Ottomans signed an Armistice with the Allies on 30 October, ending the war in the Middle East.

Italy and Macedonia

The 1/4th Battalion, Ox and Bucks and 1/1st Buckinghamshire Battalion were part of the 145th (South Midland) Brigade, 48th (South Midland) Division that left the Western Front for the Italian Front in November 1917—which had been a member of the Allies since May 1915—after she suffered very heavy casualties at the Battle of Caporetto. The regiment and the rest of the British forces did not take part in a major battle until June 1918 when they participated in the Battle of Asiago (15–16 June), that saw the Austro-Hungarians—an ally of Germany—successfully defeated in their offensive against the Allies; it was the last Austro-Hungarian offensive against Italy. On 23 October the Allies launched a successful offensive against Austria-Hungary, with the regiment crossing the Piave River, taking part in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto. The Austro-Hungarians signed an Armistice with the Allies on 4 November 1918 and the 1/4th Ox and Bucks and 1/1st Buckinghamshires ended the war in Austria-Hungary.

In October 1915 the British and French landed in Salonika at the request of the Greek Prime Minister. Both the 7th and 8th Service battalions were part of the 26th Division which landed between December 1915 and February 1916. The 7th (Service) Battalion was part of 78th Brigade whereas the 8th (Service) Battalion was a pioneer battalion attached to the division. The regiment's time in the Balkans was mostly quiet, experiencing sporadic fighting, but it included the repulsing of a Bulgarian invasion of Greece at Lake Doiran in April–May 1917. The regiment saw very heavy fighting against the Bulgarians around Doiran the following September, after the Allies had launched an offensive in July 1918 with the intention of ending the war in the Balkans. The war ended on 30 September 1918 with Bulgaria signing an Armistice with the Allies. The Ox and Bucks, along with the rest of the division, was subsequently employed for a brief period of time on occupation duties in Bulgaria.

War memorial

After the end of the First World War, the regiment commissioned a war memorial to commemorate its fallen. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry War Memorial stands on Rose Hill in Cowley. It was unveiled in 1923 and is now a grade II listed building.

Inter-war era

1st Battalion

Major-General Sir John Hanbury-Williams was appointed Colonel Commandant of the regiment in 1918. The 1st Ox and Bucks arrived in Archangel, Northern Russia, in May 1919, as part of the Allied force that intervened in the Russian Civil War to assist the ' White Russians' in their fight against the Bolsheviks. The battalion left later in the year, being based in Limerick, Ireland in 1920 to assist in operations against Sinn Féin and the IRA. It moved to Shorncliffe Army Camp, England, two years later. In 1925 the battalion joined the British Army of Occupation in Germany, remaining there for two-years before heading for Parkhurst, England. The 1st Ox and Bucks remained in England, based at Hyderabad Barracks, Colchester, until the outbreak of war in 1939.

2nd Battalion

In May 1919, the 2nd Ox and Bucks left Germany where they had been part of the army of occupation and returned to Cowley Barracks, Oxford, the following month. The battalion then moved to Tipperary, Ireland, to take part in operations against the IRA and Sinn Féin. In March 1922 the battalion arrived in Rawalpindi, India, later moving to Razmak in Waziristan on the North-West Frontier. In 1929 the battalion moved to Maymo in Upper Burma and then to Rangoon. In 1934 the battalion returned to India, initially to Bareilly and then to Mhow where it remained until it left India in June 1940, arriving home the following month.

General Sir Bernard Paget initiated the founding of a regimental chapel in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford in 1930.Paget, p. 156 A service of dedication was held in 1931.

Second World War (1939–1945)

On 3 September 1939 – two days after Germany had invaded Poland—the British Empire, France and their Allies declared war on Germany, beginning the Second World War. During that conflict the regiment raised nine battalions and the 3rd (Special Reserve) Training Battalion. The regiment saw service in France, North Africa, Burma, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Approximately 1,408 officers and other ranks of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry lost their lives during the Second World War.

North-West Europe (France and Belgium) 1939–40

The British rapidly sent the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to France in September 1939 which included the Regular Army 1st Battalion, Oxford and Bucks as part of 11th Infantry Brigade, 4th Infantry Division. They were joined in January 1940 by the 1st Buckinghamshire Battalion and the 4th Ox and Bucks, both of which were Territorial units serving alongside the 4th Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment, as part of the 145th Infantry Brigade, part of 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division. In late January, due to a new policy within the BEF of integrating the Regular and Territorials, the 1st Ox and Bucks was exchanged in 11th Brigade for the 5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment and transferred to the 143rd Infantry Brigade, of the 48th Division.

The Wehrmacht launched its invasion of the Low Countries on 10 May 1940, shattering a period of the conflict that was known as the Phoney War. The German invasion of northern Belgium—where the BEF was located—was a diversion with the main attack being through the poorly-defended Ardennes forest. The BEF withdrew west towards the Dendre river after the Dutch Army had surrendered during the Battle of the Netherlands, and then withdrew further towards the Scheldt river by 19 May. The 1st Ox and Bucks (43rd), 4th Ox and Bucks (TA) and 1st Bucks (TA) were involved in action along the line of the River Scheldt (Escaut), south of Tournai.Draper, p. 13 The British force, having given a good account of themselves in the defence of the Scheldt, eventually withdrew into France, moving towards the area around Dunkirk (26 May–3 June). The 1st Ox and Bucks took part in the Battle of the Ypres-Comines Canal (26–28 May) and were eventually evacuated from Dunkirk, having suffered more than 300 casualties. The 4th Ox and Bucks (TA) took part in the defence of Cassel, Nord until 29 May. 4th Ox and Bucks were eventually encircled by German forces near Watou and forced to surrender. The battalion had split into two groups with the aim of reaching Dunkirk

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases