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Royal Gurkha Rifles

The Royal Gurkha Rifles (RGR) is a rifle regiment of the British Army, forming part of the Brigade of Gurkhas. Unlike other regiments in the British Army, RGR soldiers are recruited from Nepal, which is neither a dependent territory of the United Kingdom nor a member of the Commonwealth.

The Royal Gurkha Rifles
Cap badge
Active1 July 1994 – present
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeRifles
Role
SizeTwo battalions
Five companies
Part ofBrigade of Gurkhas
Light Division
Garrison/HQRHQ – Camberley[1]
1st Battalion – Shorncliffe
2nd Battalion – Seria, Brunei
Coriano Company – Aldershot Garrison
Falklands Company – Aldershot Garrison
Sittang Company – Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Mandalay Company – Infantry Battle School
Tavoleto Company – Land Warfare Centre
Nickname(s)The Gurkhas
MarchQuick – "Bravest of the Brave"
Double Past – "Keel Row"
Slow (band) – "God Bless the Prince of Wales"
Slow (pipes and drums) – "The Garb of Auld Gaul"
AnniversariesMeiktila (1 March)
Medicina (16 April)
Regimental Birthday (1 July)
Gallipoli (7 August)
Delhi Day (14 September)
Commanders
Colonel-in-ChiefKing Charles III
Colonel of
the Regiment		Brigadier David T. Pack
Insignia
Tactical recognition flash
Tartan
Douglas (pipers' trews and plaids), from 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles
AbbreviationRGR

History

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See also: British Indian Army, Gorkha regiments history, Brigade of Gurkhas history, and Gurkhas

The regiment was formed as the sole Gurkha infantry regiment of the British Army following the consolidation of the four separate Gurkha regiments in 1994:[2]

The amalgamations took place as follows:

  • 1st Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles; formed by the consolidation of the 1st Bn, 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles and 1st Bn, 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles.
  • 2nd Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles; formed by renaming the 1st Bn, 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles.
  • 3rd Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles; formed by renaming the 1st Bn, 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles.

The 3rd Battalion was consolidated with the 2nd Battalion in 1996 as part of run down of British forces in Hong Kong.[3]

The Gurkhas in general and the direct predecessors of the Royal Gurkha Rifles in particular are considered to be among the finest infantrymen in the world, as is evidenced by the high regard they are held in for both their fighting skill, and their smartness of turnout on parade.[4]

In December 1995, Lieutenant-Colonel Bijaykumar Rawat became the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, the first Nepalese to become a battalion commander in the RGR. He oversaw the departure of the battalion from Hong Kong just before that city's transfer to Chinese control, and the battalion's relocation to Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Church Crookham in 1996.[5]

Twice during its most recent Brunei posting the 2nd Battalion was deployed as the Afghanistan Roulement Infantry Battalion, while the 1st Battalion deployed as part of 52 Infantry Brigade in late 2007. During this tour, Cornet Harry Wales (Prince Harry) was attached for a period to the 1st Battalion as a Forward Air Controller.[6]

Under Army 2020, the regiment was intended to provide two light role battalions, rotating between Brunei and the UK, with their higher unit as 11th Infantry Brigade.[7] However, in June 2015, the 2nd Battalion, then based in the UK, was reassigned to form part of 16 Air Assault Brigade, in the air assault infantry role.[8]

In 2018, the UK Government announced that it intended to recruit more than 800 new posts to the Brigade of Gurkhas.[9] Approximately 300 of these are planned for the Royal Gurkha Rifles, which was to see the formation of a new battalion planned for the specialist infantry role.[10] On 11 March 2019, the Minister for the Armed Forces confirmed that the 3rd Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles would be reestablished, with recruitment starting in 2019.[11] The battalion was reformed on 31 January 2020, to be based initially at Shorncliffe before moving to Aldershot.[12] However, following the revised Future Soldier (British Army) reorganisation, the formation of the 3rd Battalion was cancelled, with instead a number of independent companies established to reinforce units across the British Army. The first formed unit, Coriano Company, was subsequently followed by a second, Falklands Company, which was attached to 2nd Battalion, The Rangers.[13]

Organisation

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At any one time, one battalion is based at the British garrison in Brunei as part of Britain's commitment to maintaining a military presence in Southeast Asia.[14]

Meanwhile, the other battalion is based at Sir John Moore Barracks, Shorncliffe, near Folkestone in Kent as part of 4th Light Brigade Combat Team, and is available for deployment to most areas in Europe and Africa.[14]

1 RGR and 2 RGR rotate between Brunei and Folkestone, typically every 3 years.[15]

Coriano Company and Falklands Company operate as part of the Army Special Operations Brigade providing training, mentoring and operational support for indigenous forces in partner nations, and is based in Aldershot Garrison.[16] A third special operations company was formed in September 2024, becoming the first Gurkha unit to be stationed in Northern Ireland.[17]

Training companies

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In addition to the operational battalions, three further units are cap badged as Royal Gurkha Rifles:

  • Gurkha Company (Sittang)[18]
  • Gurkha Wing (Mandalay)[19]
  • Gurkha Company (Tavoleto)[20]

These three are formed as operational training units at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the Infantry Battle School and the Land Warfare Centre, to provide opposing forces for realistic battle simulation.

Gurkha clerks

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Prior to 2011, administrative support for the entire Brigade of Gurkhas was provided by specially trained personnel called Gurkha clerks, who wore the cap badge of the Royal Gurkha Rifles. In June 2011, the Gurkha clerks were amalgamated into a single company sized unit called the Gurkha Staff and Personnel Support Company (GSPS), which was incorporated as part of the Adjutant General's Corps. As with the other Gurkha support units (Queen's Gurkha Engineers, Queen's Gurkha Signals, Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment), the GSPS received its own cap badge based on the badge of its parent corps.[21]

Ranks

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Upon joining the British Army the RGR's predecessor regiments adopted British rank titles (e.g. sergeant and corporal) instead of the Indian Army names used before (e.g. havildar and naik). Similarly, the regiments' Viceroy Commissioned Officers, who were neither commissioned officers nor non-commissioned officers but filled most of the junior officer positions in a battalion, had their titles changed to (King's) Queen's Gurkha Officer (QGO), e.g. lieutenant (QGO), captain (QGO), major (QGO) instead of the Indian Army ranks of jemadar, subedar, and subedar-major.[22] At the same time, some RGR Gurkha officers had a Queen's Commission; they often had a (GCO) suffix after their rank.[23]

Subsequently, on 17 June 2008, the London Gazette published a Supplement that effectively abolished the QGO system by listing every serving QGO officer with their new commissioned rank (e.g. captain (QGO) became captain); the (QGO) and (GCO) suffixes disappeared.[24] Thus, serving Gurkhas, who previously would have become QGO, are now given a British commission and described as "Late Entry." Direct entry officers can be either British or Nepali (occasionally); they follow the normal British Army training for all direct entry infantry officers. A significant addition to the normal direct entry training for British RGR officers is that they will carry out Nepali language training in Nepal, which culminates in a month-long hike through the Nepalese countryside both to practise their language skills and learn about the country from which their soldiers are recruited.[25]

Notable soldiers

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Corporal Dip Prasad Pun of the 1st battalion (1 RGR) was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for an act of bravery during the War in Afghanistan in 2010. He alone defended his outpost against a force of up to 12 Taliban fighters. He fired more than 400 rounds, 17 grenades, and one mine. He resorted to fighting with his machine gun tripod after his ammunition had run out.[26][27]

Battle honours

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The battle honours of the Royal Gurkha Rifles are as follows:[28]

Lineage

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Lineage
The Royal Gurkha Rifles The 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) The Sirmoor Battalion
The 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles The Cuttack Legion
The 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles Assam Sebundy Corps
The 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles 14th Battalion of Coast Sepoys[29]

Alliances

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 1 Feb 2005". Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Serving Brigade of Gurkhas". 13 February 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  3. ^ "Regimental History". Archived from the original on 10 May 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  4. ^ The Gurkhas, Byron Farwell, W.W. Norton, 1984
  5. ^ "New Ideas: Gurkha Signals, Engineers & 'British' Officers". Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  6. ^ "9 times The Royal Family showed their appreciation for The Gurkhas". The Gurkha Welfare Trust. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Army 2020 Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  8. ^ "Gurkhas from 2 Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles based at Sir John Moore Barracks in Folkestone join army's 16 Air Assault Brigade based in Colchester". Kent Online. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  9. ^ "Did you transfer out of the Brigade of Gurkhas?". Welcome to the Gurkha Brigade Association. Gurkha Brigade. 2 August 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  10. ^ Ripley, Tim (18 July 2018). "UK to recruit more Gurkha soldiers". Jane's 360. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  11. ^ "New Gurkha battalion to be established as brigade grows". British Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  12. ^ "The Third Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles reformation parade". Gurkha Brigade Association. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  13. ^ "F (Falklands) Company, Formation Parade 18th November 2021". Welcome to the Gurkha Brigade Association. Brigade of Gurkhas. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  14. ^ a b "His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei says farewell to 2 RGR". Welcome to the Gurkha Brigade Association. 14 June 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  15. ^ "The Royal Gurkha Rifles". gurkhabde.com. Gurkha Brigade Association. 22 February 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  16. ^ "New specialist Gurkha battalion established". Ministry of Defence. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  17. ^ "1 RANGER A COMPANY PARADE". Facebook. British Forces Broadcasting Service. 17 September 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  18. ^ "Sittang". Gurkha Brigade Association. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  19. ^ "Mandalay". Gurkha Brigade Association. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  20. ^ "Gurkha Company (Tavoleto) Warminster Parade". Welcome to the Gurkha Brigade Association. Gurkha Brigade Association. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  21. ^ "Gurkha Staff and Personnel Support". Welcome to the Gurkha Brigade Association. 4 December 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  22. ^ Mike Chappell, "The Gurkhas," Osprey Publishing, 1994, pp 32, 42, 44, 56, and 61.
  23. ^ Major General (Ret'd) JC Lawrence, "Gurkha - 25 years of The Royal Gurkha Rifles," Unicorn Publishing Group, 2019, pp 206 and 214.
  24. ^ Lawrence, pp 208, 209, and 279
  25. ^ Lawrence, pp 13, 103, and 105.
  26. ^ "The Outstanding Examples Of A Generation – The OP Honours Recipients". London. States News Service. 25 March 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  27. ^ "The land of the brave". Kathmandu. The Kathmandu Post. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  28. ^ "Battle Honours". Archived from the original on 18 June 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  29. ^ "A short history of the 10th Princess Mary's own Gurkha Rifles". 10gr.com. Archived from the original on 7 October 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
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Preceded by Infantry Order of Precedence Succeeded by
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