| The Royal Gurkha Rifles | |
|---|---|
 Cap badge | |
| Active | 1 July 1994 – present |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Allegiance | King Charles III |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Rifles |
| Role |
|
| Size | Two battalions Five companies |
| Part of | Brigade of Gurkhas Light Division |
| Garrison/HQ | RHQ –Camberley[1] 1st Battalion –Shorncliffe 2nd Battalion –Seria,Brunei Krithia Company - Belfast 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 | The Gurkhas |
| March | Quick – "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" |
| Anniversaries | Meiktila (1 March) Medicina (16 April) Regimental Birthday (1 July) Gallipoli (7 August) Delhi Day (14 September) |
| Commanders | |
| Colonel-in-Chief | King 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 |
| Abbreviation | RGR |
The Royal Gurkha Rifles (RGR) is arifle regiment of theBritish Army, forming part of theBrigade of Gurkhas. Unlike other regiments in theBritish Army, RGR soldiers are recruited fromNepal, which is neither a dependent territory of theUnited Kingdom nor a member of theCommonwealth.
The regiment was formed as the soleGurkhainfantry regiment of the British Army following the consolidation of the four separate Gurkha regiments in 1994:[2]
The amalgamations took place as follows:
The 3rd Battalion was consolidated with the 2nd Battalion in 1996 as part of run down of British forces inHong 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 fromHong Kong just before that city's transfer toChinese control, and the battalion's relocation toQueen Elizabeth Barracks, Church Crookham in 1996.[5]
Twice during its most recent Brunei posting the 2nd Battalion was deployed as theAfghanistan 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 aForward 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 thespecialist 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 revisedFuture Soldier (British Army) reorganisation, the formation of the 3rd Battalion was cancelled, with instead a number of independent companies established. The first formed unit, Coriano Company, within 4th Battalion The Ranger Regiment. This was subsequently followed by Falklands Company, within 2nd Battalion,The Rangers.[13] A third reinforcement company, Krithia Company, was formed in April 2024 as part of 1st Battalion, The Rangers.[14]
At any one time, one battalion is based at theBritish garrison inBrunei as part of Britain's commitment to maintaining a military presence inSoutheast Asia.[15]
Meanwhile, the other battalion is based at Sir John Moore Barracks,Shorncliffe, nearFolkestone inKent as part of16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team, and is available for deployment to most areas inEurope andAfrica.[15]
1 RGR and 2 RGR rotate between Brunei and Folkestone, typically every 3 years.[16]
Krithia Company, Coriano Company and Falklands Company operate as part of theArmy Special Operations Brigade providing training, mentoring and operational support for indigenous forces in partner nations, and is based in Aldershot Garrison.[17][18]
In addition to the operational battalions, four further units are cap badged as Royal Gurkha Rifles:
These four are formed as operational training units at theRoyal Military Academy Sandhurst, theInfantry Battle School,Land Warfare Centre, andInfantry Training Centre, to provideopposing forces for realistic battle simulation.
Prior to 2011, administrative support for the entire Brigade of Gurkhas was provided by specially trained personnel calledGurkha clerks, who wore the cap badge of the Royal Gurkha Rifles. In June 2011, the Gurkha clerks were amalgamated into a singlecompany sized unit called theGurkha Staff and Personnel Support Company (GSPS), which was incorporated as part of theAdjutant 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.[23]
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.[24] At the same time, some RGR Gurkha officers had a Queen's Commission; they often had a (GCO) suffix after their rank.[25]
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.[26] 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.[27]
CorporalDip Prasad Pun of the 1st battalion (1 RGR) was awarded theConspicuous Gallantry Cross for an act of bravery during theWar in Afghanistan in 2010. He alone defended his outpost against a force of up to 12Taliban 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.[28][29]
The battle honours of the Royal Gurkha Rifles are as follows:[30]
| The Royal Gurkha Rifles | The2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) | The Sirmoor Battalion |
| The6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles | The Cuttack Legion | |
| The7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles | Assam Sebundy Corps | |
| The10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles | 14th Battalion of Coast Sepoys[31] |
India:Para (Indian Special Forces)/Special Frontier Force
Canada:The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada
New Zealand:Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment
Malaysia:Royal Malay Regiment (Elite Parachute Division)
Brunei:Gurkha Reserve Unit
Singapore:Gurkha Contingent| Preceded by | Infantry Order of Precedence | Succeeded by |
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