6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles

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6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles
Active1817–1994
Country 
Light Infantry
Size1–4 battalions (One: 1817–1903, two: 1903–68, three: 1940–47, four: 1941–46)
Garrison/HQBritish Hong Kong
ColorsGreen; faced black
MarchYoung May Moon (Quick March)
EngagementsThird Anglo-Burmese War

Great War

Second World War

Malayan Emergency

Confrontation
Decorations2 VCs
Insignia
Shoulder Flash
Abbreviation6 GR

The 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles was a

British India. After 1947 the regiment was one of only four Gurkha regiments to be transferred to the British Army and this continued up until 1994, when it was amalgamated with other Gurkha regiments to form the Royal Gurkha Rifles. Over the course of its 177-year history, the regiment was awarded 25 battle honours, although prior to World War I it had only been awarded one and no battle honours were awarded to it after World War II
.

History

Beginnings

42nd Gurkha Light Infantry, c. 1890

The regiment was initially raised in 1817 as the Cuttack Legion as part of the army of the East India Company.[1] This was a unit of Indian natives from the Cuttack City of Odisha area and initially it was used to maintain order in the region, before moving to Northern Bengal in 1823 when it became known as the Rungpoor Light Infantry.

During the Indian Rebellion of 1857 the regiment remained "loyal" to the British and two of its members were awarded with the Indian Order of Merit,[1] which was the highest award that a Gurkha could receive until 1911 when Gurkhas became eligible for the Victoria Cross.[2]

Following this, the regiment was transferred to the newly formed

First World War, the regiment was primarily involved in patrolling the north-east border of India, indeed it remained in eastern India for 77 years, and as such the regiment gained only a single battle honour up to 1914.[1]

In 1899 the regiment moved from Assam to

North-West Frontier.[1] In 1903, the regiment was also renumbered as the 6th Gurkha Rifles.[4] A year later, a second battalion for the regiment was raised from a cadre taken from the 1st Battalion.[1]

First World War

The 2nd Battalion, 6th Gurkha Rifles of 42nd Indian Brigade march towards the action of Khan Baghdadi

During the First World War the regiment was expanded further with the raising of a third battalion.[1] The regiment served in a number of theatres during the war, including Persia, the Middle East, Turkey and Greece.[1]

The 1st Battalion had the distinction of being the first Gurkha unit to arrive at

machine guns—this involved them going up a 300-foot (91 metre) vertical slope which had defeated both the Royal Marine Light Infantry and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers—however, the Gurkhas gained the position with ease.[6] Eighteen Gurkhas were killed in this action and another forty-two were wounded. For their sacrifice, this area is now known as Gurkha Bluff.[7]

The 2nd Battalion meanwhile began service with the

Mesopotamia.[9]

The 3rd Battalion was formed as the 3rd Gurkha Reserve Battalion on 5 February 1917[10] at Rawalpindi.[11] In February 1918, it was transferred to the Bannu Brigade on the North East Frontier.[12] With the brigade, it served in the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919.[13] It was disbanded on 1 February 1921.[14]

Inter-war years

Between the First and Second World Wars the regiment was reduced to two battalions once more and they returned to the North-West Frontier where they were employed on garrison duties.[1]

Second World War

The Second World War saw the expansion of all ten Gurkha regiments of the British Indian Army, and the 6th Gurkhas raised a further two battalions, numbered as the 3rd and 4th Battalions.

Pathan tribesmen.[1][16]

Stuart tanks
in support, February 1945.

In January 1943 the 2nd Battalion was attached to the

Italian Campaign.[18]

It was during the

Operation Thursday, which was the second Chindit expedition.[21] The 3rd Battalion's involvement in this operation proved very costly and they suffered 126 killed, 352 wounded and 7 missing.[22] As well as the two previously mentioned VCs, members of the battalion also received the following awards: 2 DSOs, 3 IOMs, 6 MCs, 4 IDSMs, 12 MMs, 3 US Silver Stars.[23]

Post 1947

In 1946 the regiment was reduced to three battalions, following the disbandment of the 4th Battalion. A year later, India gained its independence and under the 1947

5th Royal Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force), which was one of the battalions that had been allocated to the Indian Army, and the regiment was thus reduced to two battalions once more.[citation needed] In 1959, the regiment was renamed as the 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles in honour of Elizabeth II.[1]

As with other Gurkha regiments, the 6th Gurkhas primarily saw service in the Far East until the British withdrawal from East of Suez. Both battalions participated in the

Confrontation.[1]

On 16 June 1969, the 6th Gurkhas was reduced to a single battalion, when the 1st and 2nd Battalions were amalgamated as the 1st Battalion.[1] The single battalion continued to rotate with the other Gurkha regiments between Hong Kong, Brunei and Church Crookham until 1 July 1994. At that point, while in Hong Kong, the 1st Battalion was amalgamated with the 1st Battalion, 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) to form the 1st Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles.[25]

Lineage

1817–1823: The Cuttack Legion
1823–1823: Rungpore Local Battalion (January–March)
1823–1823: Rungpore Light Infantry (March–May)
1823–1826: 10th Rungpore Light Infantry
1826–1827: 8th Rungapore Light Infantry
1827–1844: 8th Assam Light Infantry
1844–1850: 8th/1st Light Infantry Battalion
1850–1861: 1st Assam Light Infantry Battalion
1861–1861: 46th Regiment of Bengal Native (Light) Infantry
1861–1865: 42nd Regiment of Bengal Native (Light) Infantry
1865–1885: 42nd (Assam) Regiment of Bengal Native (Light) Infantry
1885–1886: 42nd (Assam) Regiment of Bengal (Light) Infantry
1886–1889: 42nd Regiment Gurkha Light Infantry
1889–1891: 42nd (Gurkha) Regiment of Bengal Light Infantry
1891–1901: 42nd Gurkha (Rifle) Regiment of Bengal Light Infantry
1901–1903: 42nd Gurkha Rifles
1903–1959: 6th Gurkha Rifles
1959–1994: 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles.[3]

Victoria Cross recipients

There have been two Victoria Cross recipients from the 6th Gurkhas. These were:

  • Lieutenant (acting Captain)
    6th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers (Watson's Horse)
    attached to the 3rd Battalion, 6th Gurkha Rifles, 23 June 1944, Burma (posthumous); and
  • Rifleman
    Tulbahadur Pun, 3rd Battalion, 23 June 1944, Burma.[26]

Battle honours

The 6th Gurkhas received the following

battle honours
:

Regimental Colonels

Colonels of the Regiment were:[27]

6th Gurkha Rifles
  • 1926–1951: F.M. Sir
    William Riddell (Birdwood), 1st Lord Birdwood
    , GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCVO, CIE, DSO
  • 1951–1961: Gen. Sir John Harding, GCB, CBE, DSO, MC, ADC (Field Marshal from 1953)
6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles (1959)
  • 1961–1969: Maj-Gen. James Alexander Rowland Robertson, GB, CBE, DSO
  • 1969–1974: Maj-Gen.
    Arthur Gordon Patterson
    , CB, DSO, OBE, MC
  • 1974–1978: Brig. David Leonard Powell-Jones, DSO, OBE
  • 1978–1983: Col. (Hon. Brig.) Sir Noel Edward Vivian Short, Kt, MBE, MC
  • 1983–1988: Lt-Gen. Sir Derek Boorman, KCB (also Staffordshire Regiment)
  • 1988–1994: Maj-Gen. Raymond Austin Pett, MBE

*1994 Regiment amalgamated to form

The Royal Gurkha Rifles

Uniforms

The unique status of the unit until 1886 as the only Gurkha

rifle green Kilmarnock caps.[29]

See also

  • John Lucas (MC)

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "History of the 6th Gurkhas". 6th Gurkhas.org. Archived from the original on 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
  2. ^ Parker 2005, pp. 61–62.
  3. ^ a b "6th Gurkha's Regimental Titles". 6th Gurkhas.org. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
  4. ^ Parker 2005, pp. 87–88.
  5. ^ Parker 2005, p. 116.
  6. ^ Parker 2005, pp. 118–119.
  7. ^ Parker 2005, pp. 117–118.
  8. ^ Perry 1993, p. 42
  9. ^ Perry 1993, p. 134
  10. ^ Perry 1993, p. 177
  11. ^ Perry 1993, p. 43
  12. ^ Perry 1993, p. 154
  13. ^ Perry 1993, p. 156
  14. ^ Gaylor 1996, p. 235
  15. ^ Cross & Gurung 2002, p. 31.
  16. ^ Cross & Gurung 2002, p. 114.
  17. ^ "rothwell".
  18. ^ Chappell 1993, p. 58.
  19. ^ "6th Gurkha's Victoria Crosses". 6th Gurkhas.org. Archived from the original on 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
  20. ^ Referred to as the 3/6th.
  21. ^ Parker 2005, pp. 193–198.
  22. ^ These casualties were broken down as follows: British officers—11 killed and 9 wounded; Gurkha officers—6 killed, 8 wounded and Gurkha other ranks—109 killed, 335 wounded and 7 missing.
  23. ^ "The Battle for Mogaung". 6th Gurkhas.org. Archived from the original on 2008-08-27. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
  24. ^ Parker 2005, p. 248.
  25. ^ a b Parker 2005, p. 387.
  26. ^ Parker 2005, p. 393.
  27. ^ "6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 1 January 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  28. ISBN 0-85045-196-5
    .
  29. ^ W.Y. Carman, page 208 "Indian Army Uniforms under the British from the 18th century to 1947. Artillery, Engineers and Infantry", Morgan-Gramian: London 1969"

References

Further reading
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