Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (1908-1958 Pattern) Cap Badge, Restrike

Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry cap badge produced as a restrike of the pattern worn between 1908 and 1958 by the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry of the British Army. This British Army light infantry cap badge displays the recognised regimental insignia in clear relief, incorporating a bugle horn with strings tied in three loops as the sole device, struck in white metal without additional crown, scroll, or title inscription. The restrained simplicity of the badge device — a bugle horn alone, unadorned by any surrounding wreath, circlet, or motto — is a deliberate and distinctive feature of light infantry regimental tradition, reflecting the operational ethos of both predecessor regiments and their common heritage in the Light Division of the Peninsular War.

The regiment was formed on 1 July 1881 as the Oxfordshire Light Infantry through the amalgamation of the 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) under the Childers Reforms, both regiments having been designated Light Infantry in 1803 and having served together throughout the Peninsular War as part of Sir John Moore’s celebrated Light Division. Both predecessor regiments adopted the bugle horn as their badge device in 1803 upon their redesignation as light infantry, the bugle being the instrument by which light infantry orders were transmitted in the field when the noise of battle rendered verbal commands impractical, and its use as a badge device symbolising the swift, skirmishing role of light infantry troops on the battlefield. The regiment’s title was extended to the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in 1908 under the Haldane Reforms, reflecting the regiment’s affiliated recruiting connection with Buckinghamshire that had existed since 1881 but had not previously been reflected in the title. The regiment served throughout the Second World War with particular distinction at Arnhem in September 1944, where Lieutenant John Grayburn of the 2nd Parachute Battalion, originally commissioned into the Ox and Bucks, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his repeated assaults on enemy positions in defence of the Arnhem bridge. The regiment was redesignated the 1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd) on 7 November 1958 as part of Duncan Sandys’ Defence White Paper reorganisation of the British infantry, ending seventy-seven years of continuous service under the Oxfordshire county designation.

Manufactured in white metal consistent with British Army light infantry other ranks’ cap badge production of the 1908 to 1958 period, this restrike example provides a sharply defined representation of the regimental bugle horn badge in its definitive form. Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry cap badges are collected as examples of British Army light infantry militaria, regimental insignia of the Green Jackets antecedent units, and historic headdress hardware of two of the most celebrated regiments of the Peninsular War.

Dimensions Approx. 44mm height x 47mm width

Condition As new