Shortly after the first Blitzkreig strike on 10 May 1940, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was in disorganised withdrawal before the tide of German Panzers, and Operation Dynamo jolted into action. A 60 mile escape corridor was organised to buy time for the BEF to evacuate from Dunkirk. The 1st Buckinghamshire Battalion and the 4th Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, the TA Battalions of 145 Brigade, were deployed to fight rearguard actions at Hazebrouck and Cassel, two of a number of strongpoint hubs on the corridor’s south-west perimeter.
The heroic last stands of the two battalions between 25 and 29 May won priceless extra time for the evacuating forces, but both battalions were decimated in the process. Of the 1st Bucks, overrun at Hazebrouck, 340 officers and men were captured and became prisoners of war. 56 men were killed in the defence of Hazebrouck, with less than half the battalion’s strength returning home via Dunkirk.
Surrounded and heavily bombed at Cassel, the 4th Oxfords lost half the battalion. 21 officers and over 180 men became prisoners of war, of whom 20 were to die in captivity.
The Attack on Monte Camino 1943 (80th Anniversary) Of course 11 November 2013 marks 105 years since the signing of the Armistice in 1918, but it also marks 80 years since 7th Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry were engaged in the Attack on Monte Camino during the often-overlooked Italian Campaign of the Second World War. The following entries from the Regimental War Chronicle record the events leading up to…
The Men Behind the Medals: The Real Charles Bourne – Part 2 With our new exhibition, Into Battle: The Art of British War Comics, opening recently this special installment of the Men Behind the Medals blog continues the story of a real Private Charles Bourne, serving with 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry during the First World War. If you’ve not read Part 1, you can find it here. One…
