3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles

The Beginning

The Regiment was raised by Sir Robert Colquhoun on 24 April 1815 as the Kemaoon Battalion and didn't consist solely of Gurkhas but of men from Kumaon and Garhwal. The Regiment would also adopt the Tartan of the Clan Colquhoun.

The Regiment was primarily used to police the border with Nepal which it did for many decades. In 1857 the Indian Mutiny began and the Regiment took part in the efforts to quell it. During the Siege of Delhi - which lasted from March to September 1857 - the Regiment, part of Colonel Colin Campbell's Third Column, took part in the storming of Kashmir Gate and gained the Battle Honour "Delhi 1857". The mutiny was quelled by July 1858.

The Regiment was briefly titled the 18th Bengal Native Infantry in 1861 before the Regiment gained its present numeral designation when it became the 3rd Goorka (The Kumaon) Regiment. The Regiment saw service in an expedition to Bhutan shortly after the name change.

In 1878 the Second Afghan War began and the Regiment, as part of the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the Kandahar Field Force, took part in the march to seize Kandahar; the city was taken on 8 January 1879. The following year the Kandahar Force began the march towards the Afghan capital Kabul to join Major-General Roberts force there in an attempt to consolidate the British force's situation in the country. During the journey, near Ghaziri, the force encountered a large force of Afghan tribesmen at Ahmad Khel on 19 April 1880; intense fighting ensued but the Afghan forces were successfully repulsed when the the Regiment formed square.

The Regiment took part in the Third Burmese War began in 1885 and operations concluded by the following year. In 1887 the 2nd Battalion was formed but this became the 39th (The Garwhal) Regiment of Bengal Light Infantry in 1890; a new 2nd Battalion for the 3rd Gurkhas was raised that same year and in 1891 the Regiment was designated a Rifle regiment when it became the 3rd Gurkha (Rifle) Regiment. The 3rd Gurkhas took part in the campaigns in the North-West Frontier during the 1890s; one such action the Regiment took part in the stoming of the Dargai Heights in 1897 during the Tirah Campaign. In 1907 the title was changed to become the 3rd The Queen's Own Gurkha Rifles in honour of Alexandra of Denmark, queen consort of King Edward VII, and the following year the title became more specific when it became the 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles.

First World War

In August 1914 the First World War began between the United Kingdom and its allies against Germany and its allies.

In 1916 a clerical error gave the Regiment a 4th Battalion when 4/3rd, instead of 3/4th, was written on the order for the raising of a battalion for the 4th Gurkha Rifles. The following year the 3rd Battalion was formed.

Western Front

The 2nd Battalion, as part of the Garwhal Indian Infantry Brigade of the 7th (Meerut) Division, was deployed to France (Western Front) a few months after the declaration of war in 1914.

The Battalion's first large scale action came at La Bassée which had begun on 12 October as part of a period during WWI known as the "Race to the Sea". Tthe Battalion was involved, during a bitter winter that the Gurkhas were no doubt unaccustomed to having spent the inter-war period on the sub-continent, in the defence of Festubert in November and Givenchy in December.

The Battalion remained on the Western Front until late 1915. At the battle of Neuve Chapelle (10-13 March) the Garwhal Brigade advanced successfully during the initial offensive and the 1st Battalion took part in fierce fighting during the battle. In May the Battalion took part in the batlles of Festubert and Aubers. In September the Battalion took part in the Battle of Loos. On 25 September Rifleman Kulbir Thapa of the 2nd Battalion performed with distinction near the village of Fauqissart to win the Regiment's first Victoria Cross (VC) and become the first Gurkha recipient of the award.

Middle East

Later that year the Battalion left the 7th Division before it departed for Mesopotamia and instead arrived in Egypt. The Battalion subsequently took part in the Palestine campaign, the second largest campaign, by force totals, during World War I. The Battalion took part in the Autumm Offensive against the Ottomans who controlled Palestine; their first action came at Gaza. It was involved in many other actions during the campaign, including the capture of Jerusalam in December. On 19 September 1918, just a few months before the conclusion of the First World War, the Megiddo Offensive, the WWI equivalent of the Blitzkrieg of World War II, began and the Regiment was involved in it; participating in the capture of Sharon. For its part in that campaign the Regiment won seven Battle Honours and the Theatre Honour "Palestine 1917-18" after the honours were bestowed upon units in the 1920s.

On 10 April 1918 at El Kefr in Egypt, Karanbahadur Rana of the 2nd Battalion became the Regiment's second VC winner for distingishuing himself in an encounter with Ottoman forces; it was the last VC won by the Regiment.

Elsewhere the the 1st Battalion, from 1917, took part in the Mesopotamian Campaign - in what is now Iraq - though gained only a single Battle Honour, at the last battle of the Mesopotamian campaign; the Battle of Sharqat that took place between 28-30 October 1918.

The First World War concluded with the signing of the Armistice on 11 November 1918.

In 1920 the 3rd Battalion was disbanded and the mistakenly raised 4th Battalion was disbanded in 1922. The Regiment saw service in Third Afghan War that took place in 1919 and spent much of their inter-war years in the North-West Frontier and Burma.

Second World War

The Regiment raised the 3rd Battalion in 1940 and the 4th Battalion the following year.

North Africa & Italy

Far East

3rd Gorkha Rifles

In London, on 3 December 1997, a statue was unveiled in honour of the Gurkhas; a quote from Sir Ralph Turner, a former officer in the 3rd Gurkhas, was inscribed on the memorial: "Bravest of the brave, most generous of the generous, never had country more faithful friends than you."

Battle Honours