Jai Sixth!: 6th Queen Elizabeth's own Gurkha Rifles 1817–1994

By James Lunt

This is the story of the 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles from the Regiment raising in 1817 as the Cuttack Legion in the service of the Honourable East India Company until it's amalgamation with the 2nd King Edward VII's Gurkha Rifles ( The Sirmoor Rifles) to form the First Battalion of The Royal Gurkha Rifles in 1994. In the course of its 177 years' existence the Regiment has had many changes of title, acquiring its present one in 1959 when it became 'Queen Elizabeths Own'. In the days of the empire when men of many different races and religions served under the British Crown it was probably the Gurkha soldier who most captured the imagination of the British people, partially on account of his outstanding courage in battle, and partially because of his loyalty and sheer good humour. Prior to Independence in 1947 the former Indian Army contained ten regiments of Gurkha Rifles, each of two battalions. In 1948 four of these, of which the 6th Gurkha's was one, were transferred to the British Army. The others remained in the Indian Army. During the First World War the 6th greatly distinguished themselves at Gallipoli, and later Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia, Salonika and Afghanistan. In the Second World War the Regiment fought in all the main theatres except North-West Europe, particularly in Burma where the Third Battalion was awarded two Vcs in one battle when serving with Wingate's Chindits. After the war the Regiment played a prominent part in Malaya during the Emergency, and later in Borneo during the confrontation with Indonesia. As will be evident to the reader of this book, wherever they served the 6th lived up to the Gurkha philosophy that is is 'Better to doe then live a coward. The book also bears out the assertion that Field Marshal Viscount Slim, himself an officer of the 6th, that the Gurkha is 'the ideal infantryman'. Although it is sad that, owing to the reduction in strength of the British Army the 6th Gurkhas are being required to amalgamate with the equally distinguished 2nd Gurkhas, it is at least comforting that there will be Gurkhas serving in the Crown, as there have been since 1815. Long may they continue to do so, but no longer will the stirring cry 'Jai Sixth! (Go Sixth) be heard on the battlefield or sports ground. Royalties from sales of this book have been donated by the author to the 6th Gurkha's Benevolent Fund.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jul 14, 1994
• ISBN: 9781473815605

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coverpage

JAI SIXTH!

By the same author:

Charge to Glory

Scarlet Lancer

The Barren Rocks of Aden

From Sepoy to Subedar (Ed.)

Bokhara Burnes

John Burgoyne of Saratoga

The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment

The 16th/5th The Queen’s Royal Lancers

Imperial Sunset

Glubb Pasha

‘A Hell of a Licking’: The Retreat from Burma 1941–2

Hussein of Jordan

The Scarlet Lancers: The Story of the 16th/5th The Queen’s

Royal Lancers 1689–1992

FRONTISPIECE – Her Majesty The Queen by Commander Denis Fildes RN (Retd).

"There was great rejoicing early in 1959 when Her Majesty The Queen conferred on the Regiment the title of ‘Queen Elizabeth’s Own’." (p. 105) The portrait, by Commander Denis Fildes RN (Retd), was commissioned by the Regiment in 1960.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE

Next month, the 6th Queen Elizabeth’s Own Gurkha Rifles will lose its identity when it merges with the other three Regiments to form The Royal Gurkha Rifles. The Regiment has given loyal service for 177 years, and I am proud that since 1959 it has borne my name – the only Regiment in the British Army to do so.

It is always sad to see the passing of a great Regiment, but I am confident that the indomitable spirit of the Gurkha Officers and soldiers of Nepal, and the traditions and standards of the 6th Gurkhas, will live on in the new Regiment. I know too that the proud history of the 6th Gurkhas will be kept alive in the hearts and minds of its serving and retired Officers and men, and to all of them I send my warm thanks and best wishes for the future.

ELIZABETH R.

June, 1994.

JAI SIXTH!

The Story of the 6th Queen Elizabeth’s

Own Gurkha Rifles

1817–1994

by

JAMES LUNT

LEO COOPER

LONDON

To the memory of All Ranks

of the 6th Queen Elizabeth’s Own Gurkha Rifles

who fell in action

fighting for Britain

1817–1994

First published in Great Britain in 1994 by

LEO COOPER

190 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8JL

an imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S70 2AS

Copyright © 6th Queen Elizabeth’s Own Ghurka Rifles Trust

A CIP catalogue record for this book

is available from the British Library

ISBN 0 85052 423 7

Typeset by Centra Cet Limited, Cambridge

in 11/13 Garamond

Printed by Redwood Books Limited

Trowbridge, Wilts

CONTENTS

Foreword by the Colonel of the Regiment

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter

  1.

The Early Years

  2.

The Great War

  3.

Between The Wars

  4.

The 1/6th and 4/6th in Burma

  5.

Chindits

  6.

Italy

  7.

The Emergency in Malaya

  8.

The Confrontation in Borneo

  9.

‘The Hawk’ and Amalgamation

10.

‘The Great and the Good’

11.

‘Johnny Gurkha’

12.

The Last Twelve Years: 1982–1994

13.

The 175th Anniversay

Epilogue

Glossary

Appendix I – The Victoria Cross

Appendix II – Colonels of the Regiment 1904–1994

Appendix III – Commanding Officers

Appendix IV – Gurkha Majors 1948–1994

Appendix V – A Jungle Patrol

Appendix VI – The Royal Gurkha Rifles

Bibliography

Index

ILLUSTRATIONS

COLOUR ILLUSTRATIONS

  1.

Sepoy of the Cuttack Legion, 1817.

  2.

Capt J. B. Neufville, Commanding Officer, Assam Light Infantry, 1828–1830.

  3.

Lt Col Simon Fraser Hannay, Commanding Officer, Assam Light Infantry, 1839–1861.

  4.

Uniform of the 42nd Gurkha Light Infantry, c. 1886.

  5.

Replica King’s Colour, 42nd Assam Regiment of Bengal Native Light Infantry.

  6.

Replica Regimental Colour.

  7.

The tombstone of Maj H. W. Priestley at Shillong.

  8.

Kamakhya Temple in Gauhati.

  9.

The Officers’ Mess in Abbottabad, built in 1911.

10.

The Battle of Sari Bair, 9 August, 1915; by Terence Cuneo.

11.

The medals of Col E. S. Phipson CIE DSO OStJ IMS and Sub-Maj Gambirsing Pun IOM MC OBI.

12.

Field Marshal The Viscount Slim; by Margaret Lindsay Williams, 1953.

13.

Captain Michael Allmand VC, 3/6th Gurkha Rifles.

14.

Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun VC, 3/6th Gurkha Rifles.

15.

The sword of General Tanaka, commander of the Japanese 33 Division, received by General Slim at the surrender of Rangoon.

16.

The Battle of Medicina, 16 April, 1945; by Terence Cuneo.

17

Capt I. N. A. Thomas 6 GR, with the 14/20th King’s Hussars in Iraq, 1991.

18.

Helicopter roping-down drills in Borneo, 1964.

19.

Jungle range at Lundu, Borneo, 1964.

20.

Hon Lt (GCO) Bhirkaraj Gurung, late 6 GR, recruiting in Nepal. (Sandro Tucci)

21.

Maj Duncan Briggs and Cpl Rinchen Wangdi Lepcha, Annapurna South, 1976.

22.

Dasain – Sacrifice of a buffalo in Brunei, October, 1993.

23.

The unbeaten 6 GR basketball team, 1985.

24.

Public Duties in London.

25.

Patrolling the Hong Kong/China Border.

26.

Duties in Aid of the Civil Power.

27.

Jungle training in Brunei. (Sandro Tucci).

28.

Visit to the Regiment in Brunei by HRH The Prince of Wales, February, 1984.

29.

Visit in Church Crookham by Her Majesty The Queen in February, 1989. (Rex Features)

30.

The Hong Kong border fence by night. (Sandro Tucci)

31.

6 GR ‘Taras’.

32.

175th Anniversary Ceremony at the Tower of London on 4 November, 1992. (P.J. Gates)

33.

The Pipes and Drums with the Bands, Trumpets and Bugles of the 14th/20th King’s Hussars and The Royal Green Jackets. (P.J. Gates)

34.

‘Johnny Gurkha’; LCpl Dhanbahadur Thapa and Rifleman Balbahadur Gurung. (Sandro Tucci)

35.

Corporal Pimbahadur Gurung 6 GR, the first Gurkha pilot in the British Army.

36.

The Allmand VC Presentation Parade in Hong Kong on 22 July, 1991.

37.

The Colonel of the Regiment passing the Victoria Cross to the Gurkha Major.

BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS

Between pages 8 and 9

  1.

Bubble and Squeak, 7-pound mountain guns issued in 1884.

  2.

The Subedar Major (senior Viceroy-Commissioned Officer), 1890.

  3.

The officers at Shillong, 1897.

  4.

Silver centrepiece; a Rifleman of the 42nd Gurkha Rifles.

  5.

The trenches of Gallipoli, 1915. (Imperial War Museum)

  6.

Capt C. J. L. Allanson, as Adjutant 1/6th Gurkha Rifles, 1904.

  7.

Col E. S. Phipson CIE DSO OStJ IMS. (Courtesy of the Director, National Army Museum, London)

  8.

The officers, 1/6th Gurkha Rifles in Gallipoli, 1915.

  9.

The Stone, thought to be a doorpost lintel from the Temple of Diana.

10.

2/6th marching north to the Battle of Khan Baghdadi, 22 March, 1918.

11.

Officers of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions, 1920.

12.

‘Christmas Day in the Workhouse’ – 1/6th Gurkha Rifles, 1923.

13.

‘Kasam Khane’, 1930s. Recruits marching under the unfurled replica Colours.

14.

‘Kasam Khane’, 1990s. Recruits are sworn in on the boxed replicas.

Between pages 56 and 57

15.

Naik (Corporal) in Battle Order, 1939.

16.

Operations on the North-West Frontier. Waziriatan, 1931.

17.

The North-West Frontier of India.

18.

Officers of the 1st Battalion at Malakand in September, 1939.

19.

New equipment received in Burma: 3″ mortars.

20.

Tracked carriers.

21.

The Bren Light Machine Gun, which replaced the Vickers-Berthier.

22.

The jeep, a war-winning invention if ever there was one.

23.

Air resupply in the jungle.

24.

4/6th crossing the Irrawaddy on 27 January, 1945.

25.

Mandalay Hill, 8 March, 1945.

26.

British officers and Mess staff of the 3rd Battalion, Abbottabad, late 1940.

27.

Tulbahadur Pun VC at the Coronation Parade, 1953.

28.

2/6th Gurkha Rifles, during the later stages of the war in Italy.

29.

The long years of waiting and training had ended. Italy, 1945.

30.

The 2nd Battalion, during the advance through Italy, 1945.

31.

Lt Col W. M. Amoore DSO and 2/6th officers in May, 1945.

Between pages 104 and 105

32.

General Sir Gerald Templer congratulates Maj D. H. Houston MC and A Company 2/6th in Malaya, 1954.

33.

General Sir Walter Walker KCB CBE DSO and two Bars, Dato Seri Setia.

34.

Captured terrorist weapons and ammunition, Malayan Emergency.

35.

Field Marshal Lord Harding, with the British Officers, 1st and 2nd Battalions at Ipoh, August, 1959.

36.

1/6th deploying from Tidworth to Borneo, January, 1964.

37.

Lt Col B. H. Hickey MC and Bar with officers of the 1st Battalion, Borneo.

38.

‘Hearts and Minds’, Borneo – Maj P. B. H. Robeson, C Company and the 2/6th Assault Pioneer Platoon at Salilran.

39.

The Wallace Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to the Champion Company.

40.

Lt Col A. S. Harvey MC and Bar at Bario, Burnei.

41.

Lt Col and Mrs R. C. Neath with CSgt Amerbahadur Pun MM and Bar and Sgt Bombahadur Gurung MM in Kuala Lumpur on 6 February, 1967.

42.

‘The Hawk’, worn on the right sleeve by all 6th Gurkhas.

43.

Capt (QGO) Amarbahadur Gurung with Lt Col Frazer and the 14th/20th Guidon Party in 1965.

44.

Amalgamation Parade in Hong Kong on 14 June, 1969. Support Company marches past Lt Col R. N. P. Reynolds MBE.

45.

‘Hearts and Minds’, Hong Kong – Lt (QGO) Purnabahadur Gurung, Support Company 2/6th, 1968.

46.

Public Duties in London.

47.

Frontier operations in Hong Kong.

Between pages 152 and 153

48.

Field Marshal the Viscount Slim KG, the ‘Uncle Bill’ of XIVth Army in Burma.

49.

Capt W. J. Slim MC, as Adjutant of the 1st Battalion.

50.

Sgt Jaibahadur Gurung and Rfn Tulbahadur Pun, Support Company, 2/6th GR in Malaysia, 1968.

51.

Maj Gen. J. A. R. Robertson CB CBE DSO and Bar, Col N. F. B. Shaw DSO OBE and Brig W. C. Walker DSO and Bar OBE.

52.

Maj Gen A. G. Patterson DSO OBE MC in Kluang, West Malaysia, 1968.

53.

Bisley Queen’s Medallists: Lt (QGO) Dharmendra Gurung (1982 and 1993), WO 2 Khusiman Gurung (1985) and Rifleman Lalitbahadur Gurung (1992). (Soldier Magazine)

54.

Lt Col C. J. L. Allanson DSO as CO-designate 2/6th,

55.

Lt Col P. D. Pettigrew with Maj Gen D. Boorman, the officers and their ladies in Brunei, 1983.

56.

Lt Col R. F. Richardson-Aitken and Brig P. R. Duffell patrol the Hong Kong–China Border, 1985.

57.

The Service of Re-dedication of the Book of Remembrance by The Dean of Winchester on 8 November, 1988. (Hampshire Chronicle)

58.

Guest Night for past Colonels of the Regiment and former Commanding Officers of the 1st and 2nd Battalions in Church Crookham, 1989.

59.

Her Majesty Thje Queen’s visit to Church Crookham on 5 May, 1978.

60.

Her Majesty The Queen inspecting the 6 GR Guard of Honour in Hong Kong on 21 October, 1986.

61.

Lt Col N. A. Collett and the officers after the 175th Anniversary Parade in Brunei, 1992.

62.

Mrs Marie Pett, Mrs Sudha Rai and a group of Gurkha wives and children.

63.

Maj Harkasing Rai MC and Bar IDSM MM.

64.

The Almighty created in the Gurkha an ideal Infantryman – 21164983 Rifleman Budhibahadur Gurung 6 GR.

In addition to the acknowledgments shown above, thanks are also due to the following for permission to reproduce photographs:

The Trustees, 6th Queen Elizabeth’s Own Gurkha Rifles, Lt Col D. H. McK. Briggs, Lt Col N. A. Collett, Sgt D. Forsey RMP, Lt Col P. P. A. Gouldsbury, Maj P. Griffin MBE, Lt Col A. S. Harvey OBE MC, Lt Col R. C. Neath OBE, Maj Gen R. A. Pett MBE, Maj P. B. H. Robeson, Lt Col The Viscount Slim OBE, Capt I. N. A. Thomas, Lt Col M.J. R. Wardroper and Maj T. E. E. Whitehead.

MAPS

1.

North-East Indian and Northern Burma

2.

North-West India

3.

The Gallipoli Peninsula

4.

Mesopotamia

5.

Burma

6.

Mogaung

7.

Advance to the Po Valley

8.

Malaya

9.

Borneo

BATTLE HONOURS

Burma, 1885–87

Helles

Krithia

Suvla

Sari Bair

Gallipoli 1915

Suez Canal

Egypt 1915–16

Khan Baghdadi

Mesopotamia, 1916–18

Persia, 1918

N. W. Frontier, India, 1915

Afghanistan, 1919

Coriano

Santarcangelo

Monte Chicco

Lamone Crossing

Senio Floodbank

Medicina

Gaiana Crossing

Italy, 1944–45

Shwebo

Kyaukmyaung Bridgehead

Mandalay

Fort Dufferin

Maymyo

Rangoon Road

Toungoo

Sittang, 1945

Chindits, 1944

Burma, 1944–45

The Battle Honours awarded previous to Burma, 1885–87, viz: Arracan, Assam and Ava do not appear to have been carried forward in the Army List.

FOREWORD

by

Major General R. A. Pett, MBE

Colonel, 6th Queen Elizabeth’s Own Gurkha Rifles

THIS book tells the story of the 6th Gurkhas from their raising as the Cuttack Legion in 1817 to the merger with the other British Army regiments of Gurkha Rifles in 1994. It is an adventure story to rank with any in fact or fiction, here superbly told by James Lunt, who has captured that unique spirit of the 6th Gurkhas.

A curtain of mystique surrounds the fierce hillmen of Nepal. This book lifts a corner of that curtain and illuminates the stoicism and heroism of both the Gurkha riflemen and their exceptional officers, British and Gurkha alike. It tells, for example, the story of the 1st Battalion at Gallipoli, where they alone succeeded in reaching the heights of Sari Bair, but at the cost of every British officer dead or wounded, save only the Medical Officer. Equally enthralling is the account of the 2nd Battalion’s hard slogging alongside the 14th/20th King’s Hussars in Italy in the Second World War, and the award of two VCs in the Chindit campaign, to Captain Michael Allmand and Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun of the 3rd Battalion.

But this book also fills in the periods in between the big wars – on the North-West Frontier; in the jungles of Malaya, Borneo, Brunei or Belize; on the Sino-Hong Kong Border, or the sports field, or the Century Range at Bisley; or just … soldiering. Throughout the book shines that ineluctable spirit of the 6th Gurkhas and the sheer, infectious fun of serving with those Bravest of brave, most generous of the generous. For to serve with Gurkhas is not just a privilege. It is, truly, a pleasure. Within these pages are to be found the essence of that privilege and pleasure.

Jai Sixth!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

MY principal acknowledgement must be to Major General Ray Pett, Colonel of the Regiment, for entrusting to me this chronicle of the 6th Gurkhas from their founding year in 1817 until their amalgamation with the 2nd Goorkhas in 1994, to form the First Battalion of The Royal Gurkha Rifles. Since we had never previously met, I am afraid he had to take me very much on trust and I hope I have not let him or the Regiment down. I have done my best to follow the remit he gave me.

He told me that he did not want the conventional kind of regimental history in which the movements of Companies, and sometimes of Platoons, are recounted in considerable detail, accompanied by maps liberally spattered with arrows pointing this way and that, but rather an overall account of the Regiment from its first raising until its disappearance from the Army List in 1994.

Unfortunately, owing to domestic circumstances, I have not been able to visit the Regiment in Brunei. However, I have, from time to time over the years, met the 6th Gurkhas and can number among their officers several old friends. I have also visited Nepal and met the Gurkhas in their native habitat. Lieutenant Colonel ‘Tich’ Harvey, Regimental Secretary in his retirement, has been of enormous assistance and it was a pleasure to meet Lieutenant Colonel Nigel Collett who commanded the Regiment from 1991 to 1993,

I have also to thank General Pett for choosing the illustrations, always a difficult and time-consuming task.

My GOC in Aden from 1961–63, General Jim Robertson, a 6th Gurkha of 6th Gurkhas, has helped to fill in some of the gaps, as has Brigadier Gil Hickey who organized our unforgettable visit to Nepal 26 years ago. Unfortunately ill-health prevented my meeting with General Pat Patterson, an old friend, and likewise Brigadier Brunny Short. However, I was fortunate enough to have a meeting with John Slim, under whose father I had served in Burma in 1942. Michael Calvert, a friend of many years’ standing, has been kind enough to tell me about the 3/6th who served under him as CHINDITS in Burma in 1944 and who covered themselves in glory at Mogaung.

Anne Gonzalez has given me some help on the secretarial side but here my deepest thanks must go to my daughter, Jenny Toyne Sewell, who, despite a terrifyingly busy life, has found the time to type the manuscript in her usual immaculate style and, now and then and from time to time, has corrected my spelling and grammar and improved my punctuation! I am enormously indebted to her.

Finally a word for Lance-Naik Amritbahadur in whatever Gurkha Valhalla he is at present inhabiting. Without his ready aid as my orderly during the retreat from Burma in 1942, I certainly would not have survived to write this book and, to that extent, he must bear some responsibility for what follows. Syabas!

J. D. L.

INTRODUCTION

WHEN I undertook to write this History of the 6th Queen Elizabeth’s Own Gurkha Rifles, it was in a sense in repayment of a long-standing debt I owe to a Gurkha soldier. Lance-Naik Amritbahadur of the 7th Gurkha Rifles was my orderly during the long retreat from Burma in 1942 and, on one occasion certainly, he saved my life. I have never heard of him again and undoubtedly he will have died. He was an old soldier in 1942.

In this history it will be seen how bravely and loyally the Gurkha soldier has served the British Crown for close on 200 years. Whether storming the heights of Sari Bair on Gallipoli in 1915 or charging well dug-in Japanese machine guns through the mud and blood of Mogaung in 1944 in Burma, the 6th Gurkha Rifles have at all times lived up to the Gurkha philosophy that it is ‘better to die than live a coward’. No regiment in the Brigade of Gurkhas has a finer record and I regard it as a great privilege to be asked to tell the Regiment’s story in the pages which follow.

Although I have never served in a Gurkha regiment, I have served with Gurkhas often enough, both in Burma and afterwards. In the 4th Burma Rifles, in which I served from 1939–41, our Band was entirely Gurkha and I have had many dealings with Gurkhas, both officers and riflemen, since those days. I have also visited Nepal and know the homeland of these sturdy hillmen, for whom I have always had both admiration and affection.

One of the outstanding advantages of the Gurkha Brigade of the pre-1947 Indian Army was the similarity of the soldiers. Obviously there were differences between the Magars and Gurungs of Western Nepal, as recruited in the 6th, and the Limbus and Rais from the East, and more so with the higher-caste Chhetris recruited in the 9th Gurkha Rifles. Nevertheless their common characteristics and religious beliefs gave the Gurkha regiments a flexibility not otherwise to be found in the old Indian Army in which Dogras differed greatly from Pathans, as did Sikhs from Madrassis. It made it that much easier to reinforce in war one Gurkha regiment from another Gurkha regiment, regardless of the fierce pride in regiment which was such a feature of the ordinary Gurkha rifleman. What is more it seems to have applied equally to the British officers (BOs). That most famous of all 6th Gurkhas, Field Marshal Lord Slim, commanded a battalion of the 7th Gurkha Rifles, and another distinguished officer of his vintage, Bruce Scott, commanded a battalion of the 8th Gurkha Rifles. There would appear to have been a similar flexibility in the Brigade of Gurkhas since 1948 when the 2nd, 6th, 7th and 10th Gurkha Rifles were incorporated in the British Army.

There already exist three volumes of the History of the 6th Gurkha Rifles, beginning in 1817 and ending in 1982 when the Regiment was about to move from Hong Kong to Brunei, where the 6th are again serving today. In 1969 the 1st and 2nd battalions were amalgamated as a result of the reduction in strength of the Brigade of Gurkhas. Today, once again as a result of the reduction in the strength of the British Army, the Regiment faces amalgamation, this time with the 2nd King Edward VII’s Own Goorkhas (The Sirmoor Rifles), to form the 1st Battalion of The Royal Gurkha Rifles.

No one in either regiment can be expected to welcome such a drastic change in regimental identity but I have not the slightest doubt that the regiment which will emerge from this amalgamation will be in every way as successful and as distinguished as were its predecessors. And although there will be, inevitably, sadness at the disappearance from the Army List of two such distinguished regimental titles, some consolation can be found from the fact that there will still be Gurkhas serving the British Crown, as they have done so gallantly in the past. How gallantly will be clear from this story of the 6th Gurkhas which follows.

Regimental history can hardly be regarded as popular reading, apart from those who have a vested interest in the particular story or for military historians engaged in research. The Gurkhas, however, have long had a special place in the affections of the British people and with this in mind I have tried to avoid too detailed descriptions of events and individuals, but rather to convey the esprit which made the 6th Gurkhas the fine regiment that it was, and to give some impression of the panache and élan of the ordinary Gurkha rifleman which has made service with him so worthwhile – and such fun!

James Lunt

Oxford 1994.

TITLES OF THE REGIMENT

1817

Cuttack Legion

1823

Rangpur Local Battalion

8th Rangpur Light Infantry

1827

Assam Light Infantry

1861

42nd Regiment of Bengal Native (Light) Infantry

1865

46th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry

42nd Assam Regiment of Bengal Native Light Infantry

1885

42nd Bengal Infantry

1886

42nd Gurkha Light Infantry

1891

42nd Gurkha Rifle Regiment of Bengal Infantry

1901

42nd Gurkha Rifles

1903

6th Gurkha Rifles

1959

6th Queen Elizabeth’s Own Gurkha Rifles

CHAPTER ONE

The Early Years

AS a glance at the opposite page will show, the Regiment has had many changes of title in the close on two hundred years of its existence. These reflect not only changes in organization and role but, equally importantly, changes in recuitment. During the first twenty years of the nineteenth century the Honourable East India Company was fast extending its rule over the subcontinent. The Mahrattas had been subdued and the Pindaris soon after them; and between 1814 and 1816 the war with the Nepalese had been brought to a satisfactory conclusion by the Treaty of Segowli which, among other conditions, permitted the Company to recruit up to three regiments of Gurkhas, hitherto not enlisted in the Company’s army.

The 6th Gurkha Rifles, however, did not begin as a Gurkha unit and nearly seventy years were to elapse before the Regiment became all Gurkha. It began life on 16 May, 1817, in Cuttack, one of the principal cities in the province of Orissa in the Presidency of Bengal. Cuttack is 220 miles south-west of Calcutta and 45 miles inland from the Bay of Bengal. The province was both hilly and thickly forested, inhabited by numerous aboriginal tribes at feud with each other and with many petty rajahs who were busily fighting each other in the wake of the break-up of the Mughal empire. Two of the tribes, the Paicks and the Kols, were being particularly troublesome and the Governor General in Calcutta decreed that a ‘Local Corps’ should be raised to deal with them. It was to be called the ‘Cuttack Legion’, with a uniform of dark green with black velvet facings; the lace was to be silver. It was to be raised by Captain Simon Fraser of the Company’s Service with an establishment of ten officers and 656 sepoys. The establishment included two Troops of light cavalry and two 3-pdr, or ‘galloper’ guns, as used by the horse artillery, as well as three companies of infantry. The role of the Cuttack Legion was more that of military police