2/4TH (TF) BATTALION. 1914-1918 Extracted from : A short history of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 1741-1922 for the young soldiers of the Regiment By R.B. Crosse. Ypres, 1917. Langemarck, 1917. Cambrai, 1917. Somme, 1918. St. Quentin. Rosieres. Lys. Hazebrouck. Bethune. Selle. Valenciennes.
On September 8th, 1914, recruiting began for this Battalion, but it was not till May 24th, 1916, that it landed in France, being previously engaged in training and garrison duty at home, for the most part on the East Coast.
As part of the 184th Infantry Brigade, 61st Division, the Battalion was instructed in trench warfare in the Laventie Sector, and was in action for the first time on July 19th, 1916, when a subsidiary attack to the Battle of the Somme was carried out. In November the Battalion took over the line in the Somme area, near Grandcourt, but was near Ablaincourt in March 1917, when the German retreat commenced.
On April 7th the Battalion attacked near le Vergier, and on April 28th, near Fayet, Company Sergeant-Major Brooks was awarded the Victoria Cross. The Battalion carried out a small operation near Monchy on June 6th, and in August moved north for the Third Battle of Ypres. On August 22nd it was in action east of St. Julien, and again on September 10th in an attack on Hill 35 east of the Steenbeke River.
After a short stay in the Arras Sector, the Battalion moved to southwest of Cambrai. On March 21st, 1918, it was holding the line near St. Quentin when the German offensive began, and, owing to the mist, was surrounded by overwhelming numbers of the enemy; the survivors were in action during the retirement of the Fifth Army at Verlaines, La Motte, and Marcelcave. At the beginning of April the 2nd Bucks Battalion was amalgamated with the 2/4th, which, refitted and reorganised, was soon in action, on April 12th and 15th, northeast of Robecq. On August 28th the Battalion attacked near Neuf Berquin, and on September 12th the second Victoria Cross of the Battalion was won by Corporal Wilcox. In October, after moving down to the Cambrai Sector, the Battalion made successful attacks east of Haussy on October 24th and 25th, and at St. Hubert on November 2nd, capturing several hundred prisoners and some field guns. After the Armistice the Battalion remained for a time in France, and subsequently moved to Egypt.