Oxfordshire Light Infantry Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry 1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd) |
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Cap badge of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.
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Active | 1881–1958 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | British Army |
Type | Infantry |
Role | Light infantry |
Size | 2 Regular battalions 1 Militia battalion 2 Territorial and Volunteer battalions Up to 8 hostilities-only battalions |
Garrison/HQ | Cowley Barracks, Oxford |
Nickname(s) |
The Ox and Bucks The Light Bobs |
March | Nachtlager in Granada |
Anniversaries | Waterloo (18 June) |
Commanders | |
Ceremonial chief | HM Carlos I of Portugal |
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 and the 4th battalion and the 1st Buckinghamshire battalion were formed, both originally county volunteer units, and they became part of a new Territorial Force, later the Territorial Army (TA).
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, was renamed the 1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd), forming part of the Green Jackets Brigade.
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.