Buckinghamshire Brochure Final 4 - Flipbook - Page 10
LOCAL INTEREST
The 85th Regiment of Foot was raised in
Buckinghamshire in 1793 on the outbreak
of war with revolutionary France fighting
in the Netherlands in 1794 and 1799.
their lives fighting in France, North Africa,
Italy, Greece, Burma and from Normandy
through Belgium and Holland to the final
victory in Germany.
The Bucks Volunteers Militias was
incorporated into the 85th in 1802 to
become the 85th (Buck Volunteers)
Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) in 1808.
In 1940 the 1st Bucks were ordered to
hold Hazebrouck to enable the BEF to
escape to Dunkirk.
The Regiment fought in the Peninsula
War (1808-1913) followed in 1812 by
the war in America. At the Battle of
Bladensburg, August 1814 it captured
two American colours, was part of the
expedition that burnt the White House
and was at the Battle of New Orleans in
1815.
In 1859 The Buckinghamshire Rifle
Volunteers was raised as citizen soldiers
for home defence. The furniture makers
of High Wycombe and the LNWR railway
works at Wolverton were major sources
of recruits and in 1867, the Eton College
Rifle Volunteers became the 2nd (Eton
College) Bucks Volunteer Battalion.
1st Bucks landed on D Day as a Beach
Group to manage Sword Beach, where
it’s Commanding Office Lt Col Sale won a
posthumous George Cross.
The Buckinghamshire Battalion was
disbanded in 1946 and subsequently, 4
OXF and BUCKS (TA) formed a company
in High Wycombe.
In 1958 the regiment become the 1st
Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd). In 1965 it
was amalgamated into The Royal Green
Jackets (RGJ) which saw operational
service in Borneo, Northern Ireland,
Kosovo, Bosnia and Iraq. Subsequently,
4 RGJ (Volunteers) formed a company in
Milton Keynes
In 1882 the 85th was amalgamated into
the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry.
In 2007 The Royal Green Jackets and
three other regiments formed The Rifles.
The Bucks Rifle Volunteers then
becoming a volunteer battalion of the
Oxfordshire Light Infantry with a company
serving with the 1st Oxfords in the Boer
War.
The Rifles has the freedoms of two towns
in Buckinghamshire: Buckingham and
High Wycombe.
In 1908, The Oxfords became The
Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light
Infantry and the Rifle Volunteers became
the 1st Buckinghamshire Battalion of the
OXF and BUCKS, retaining its distinctive
Rifles black buttons and Maltese Cross
cap badge.
The Rifles has Reserve Platoons in
Aylesbury and High Wycombe.
In WWI the OXF and BUCKS formed 17
Battalions and 5,878 of its soldiers lost
their lives fighting in France and Flanders,
Italy, Mesopotamia and Salonika and was
still in action in 1919 in Russia.
CSM Edward Brooks from Oakley won
a Victoria Cross in August 1917 with the
2/4th OXF and BUCKS at St Quentin.
In WWII the Regiment formed 10
Battalions and 1048 of its soldiers lost
Cap Badge of the 1st Buckinghamshire
Battalion, OXF & BUCKS LI
CONTACT US
REGIMENTAL HEADQUARTERS THE RIFLES
Peninsula Barracks, Romsey Road,
WINCHESTER, SO23 8TS
01962 828 527 | rhq@the-rifles.co.uk
REGIONAL OFFICES:
North (Pontefract) | 01977 703 181 |
yorkshire@the-rifles.co.uk
Midlands (Shrewsbury) | 01743 842 030 |
shrewsbury@the-rifles.co.uk
London (Kensington) | 0207 414 5441 |
london@the-rifles.co.uk
South (Winchester) | 01962 828 501 |
salisbury@the-rifles.co.uk
West (Taunton) | 01823 333 434 | taunton@
the-rifles.co.uk
South West (Exeter) | 01392 492 435 |
exeter@the-rifles.co.uk
JOIN US:
Regular & Reserve Officer |
armyjobs@the-rifles.co.uk
Regular & Reserve Soldier |
enquiry@the-rifles.co.uk
ARMY CADET FORCE
www.armycadets.com
THE RIFLEMAN'S ASSOCIATION:
SWIFT - www.theriflesnetwork.co.uk |
swift@the-rifles.co.uk
FORMING & ANTECEDENT REGIMENTAL
ASSOCIATION BRANCHES:
•
Aylesbury (RGJ)
•
Milton Keynes (RGJ)
MUSEUMS:
The Rifles Regimental Museum | www.
riflesmuseum.co.uk
Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, Oxford |
www.sofo.org.uk
The Buckinghamshire Military Museum
Trust | www.bmmt.co.uk
