oxford and bucks li

[tommy t bag]

hi everyone.Im trying to find out information about the insigna combination of an oxf and bucks li cloth title and a middle east hq formation sign on a ww2 battledress jacket.(camel) Were some units of this regiment attached to the middle east HQ?Ans also,the epaulettes of this battldress jacket have a red colour bar swen on.I will post pictures later.tommy t bag

[badjez]

Tommy,

The camel is probably the Formation Sign of GHQ Middle East Land Forces (MELF) which was adopted in the latter part of 1947. During the war the GHQ wore no distinguishing badges. (Info from Coles)

A single red bar probably denotes the Battalion was in the senior Brigade of a Division.

The following info is courtesy of Wikedepia
'In October 1945 the 2nd Battalion arrived in Palestine during turbulent times there. In 1946 the 1st Battalion deployed to Trieste—the following year the Free Territory of Trieste—as part of the British-American force there. The Battalion left in May 1947. In 1948, with the end of the Second World War, the British Government implemented substantial defence cuts, which involved all second battalions in the Line Infantry being amalgamated with the 1st Battalions, this included the Ox & Bucks. Following the amalgamation the Regiment was re-titled as the 1st Battalion The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 43rd and 52nd.

'In 1949 the Regiment moved to Greece during the Greek Civil War. In October 1951, following a short period in Cyprus, the Regiment deployed to the British-controlled Suez Canal Zone in Egypt. There, the Regiment saw active service performing internal security duties. The Regiment left Suez in April 1953.'

I hope this helps. A photo might provide more info.

Regards, Stephen.

[tommy t bag]

heres the picture.tommy t bag

[Mike Jackson]

Arm of Service strips and the system of indicating battalion seniority in the brigade seemed to fade into obscurity from about 1946. In the case of the BD blouse illustrated, I believe that the tape on the epaulette will have been a company designator. The GHQ MELF sign is a fine period piece - late 1940s/early 1950s I would say.

[tommy t bag]

Thanks for your help.I you look closely,you can notice that other badges have been on this jacket and taken off.underneath the camel badge,there is still a red stripe badge sewn.I think its an infantry brigade badge.I think the person who had this jacket got transfered at some point of his career.the battledress itself is a 37 patern,wich were made before june 1940.So,he was a veteran by 1946.oxf and bucks li

[Luc]

I agree the red strip is for company, or even battalion. I'm not a medal collector but isn't the War Medal alone a bit unlikely?