In October 1945, the 2nd Battalion, as part of 6th Airborne Division, arrived in Palestine as Britain's Imperial Strategic Reserve in the Middle East. Palestine was in a highly volatile political state and the battalion was extensively deployed on internal security duties and in assisting the civil authorities to keep the peace between the different communities. The 2nd Ox and Bucks were initially based at Mughazi camp, near Gaza, then at Ras-El-Fin, near Tel Aviv and at Nathanya, near Haifa. Shortly after arriving in Palestine Lieutenant Colonel Mark Darell-Brown was injured in a road traffic accident and Lieutenant Colonel Henry van Straubenzee replaced him as commanding officer of the 2nd Ox and Bucks (the 52nd). In March 1946 the battalion moved to Alamein camp in Jerusalem. On 15 April 1946, 6th Airlanding Brigade, which the battalion was still part of, was renumbered the 31st Independent Infantry Brigade. On 26 April 1946 the battalion wore their red berets for the final time, at a farewell to the division parade. The battalion was stationed in Jerusalem when the King David Hotel bombing took place on 22 July 1946. The 2nd Ox and Bucks moved to Athlit, near Haifa, in November 1946, then to Zerca in Transjordan before returning to Jerusalem in January 1947. The battalion formed part of 8th Infantry Brigade in May 1947 and moved to Khassa, near Gaza, in July 1947 and left Palestine in September 1947.