The Royal Gurkha Rifles 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 regiment's motto is Better to die than to be a coward.
History
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:
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.
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. 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. 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. 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 was attached for a period to the 1st Battalion as a Forward Air Controller. 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. 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. In 2018, the UK Government announced that it intended to recruit more than 800 new posts to the Brigade of Gurkhas. Approximately 300 of these are planned for the Royal Gurkha Rifles, which will see the formation of a new battalion planned for the specialist infantry role. 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. The battalion was reformed on 31 January 2020, to initially be based at Shorncliffe before moving to Aldershot.
Organisation
The first battalion is based at Shorncliffe, near Folkestone in Kent as part of 16 Air Assault Brigade, and is available for deployment to most areas in Europe and Africa. The second battalion is based at the British garrison in Brunei as part of Britain's commitment to maintaining a military presence in Southeast Asia. 1 RGR and 2RGR rotate between Brunei and Folkstone. The third battalion will operate as part of the Specialised Infantry Group providing training and mentoring support for indigenous forces in partner nations.
Training companies
In addition to the operational battalions, three further units are cap badged as Royal Gurkha Rifles:
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, which was incorporated as part of the Adjutant General's Corps. As with the other Gurkha support units, the GSPS received its own cap badge based on the badge of its parent corps.
Notable soldiers
of the 1st battalion 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.
Battle honours
The battle honours of the Royal Gurkha Rifles are as follows:
