The 16th Foot, raised in 1688 in the Southern Counties, with headquarters at Reading, received the title of the Buckinghamshire Regiment in 1782, which it held till 1809.
16th Regiment
1688-1751 Douglas’s Regiment of Foot
1751-1782 16th Regiment of Foot
1782-1809 16th (Buckinghamshire) Regiment of Foot
1809-1881 16th (Bedfordshire) Regiment of Foot
The 14th Foot, formed in 1685 at Canterbury by Sir Edward Hales of Woodcot, a Kentish Baronet and well-known loyalist in the reigns of Charles I and II, became the Bedfordshire Regiment in 1782. In 1809 the Colonel of the Regiment was Sir Harry Calvert, the Adjutant-General of the Forces, who owned large estates in Buckinghamshire. At his request the 16th Foot agreed to an exchange of titles between the two Regiments, the 14th becoming the Buckinghamshire, and the 16th the Bedfordshire Regiment in that year. For more than seventy years men of Bucks continued to fill the ranks of the Regiment, and took part in the capture of Mauritius’ in 1810 the conquest of Java 1811, the Waterloo Campaign 1815 where the 3rd Battalion, entirely composed of Bucks men, fought in the 4th Brigade, 4th Division, 2nd Corps—the storming of Bhurtpore 1825, the Crimea 1855 including the Siege of Sevastopol and the Assault on the Redan, the Maori Wars of 1860-61 and 1863—6, and the Afghan War, 1879—80.
In 1876, in view of its distinguished record, the Regiment was given the title of the 14th (Prince of Wales’ Own Buckinghamshire) Regiment. Five years later, when the linked battalion system, instituted by Mr. Cardwell, gave place to a double battalion organization with territorial titles, indicative of prescribed recruiting areas, instead of numbers, it was considered necessary to carry out a redistribution of regiments to counties to meet recruiting requirements. The 14th was allotted to Yorkshire, and in 1881 became the P.W.O. West Yorkshire Regiment. Thus its long and happy connexion with Buckinghamshire was -severed, to the great regret of the County.
14th Regiment
1685-1751 Hales’s Regiment of Foot
1751-1782 14th Regiment of Foot
1782-1809 14th (Bedfordshire) Regiment of Foot
1809-1876 14th (Buckinghamshire) Regiment of Foot
1876-1881 14th (Buckinghamshire or The Prince of Wale’s Own) Regiment of Foot
1881-1920 The Prince of Wale’s Own (West Yorkshire Regiment)