4th Gurkha Rifles

Refer to general article Gurkha Rifles
4th Gurkha Rifles were stationed at Bakloh.

Chronology

1857 raised as the Extra Goorkha Regiment before being numbered as 19th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
1861 renamed the 4th Goorkha Regiment
1891 became the 4th Gurkha (Rifle) Regiment
1901 became the 4th Gurkha Rifles
1924 became the 4th Prince of Wales's Own Gurkha Rifles
1947 allocated to India on Partition
1950 became 4 Gorkha Rifles

Battle Honours

1878-80 Afghanistan

1895 Waziristan 1895
1895 Chitral
1897 Tirah
1908 Punjab Frontier

First World War

Regimental War Diaries are available from the National Archives, Kew, England. Note that many of these are hand written, however transcribed editions are available for Gallipoli, for the 4th Gurkha Rifles and for the 29th Indian Infantry Brigade, of which the 4th Gurkha Rifles was a part, edited by Martin Gillott. publisher Great War Diaries, in Kindle editions which have a Search facility (anyone with Kindle Unlimited can read them for free). (Download of a free Kindle App is available, you don't need Kindle).

For National Archives references, and Theatres of War, refer External Links below.

External links

Gorkha Regiments (India) Wikipedia
4 Gorkha Rifles Wikipedia
4th (Prince of Wales's Own) Gurkha Rifles Regiments.org, an archived website. Includes a bibliography.
Photograph: [1/4th] Gurkhas at kit inspection showing kukris [Le Sart, France]. Photographer: H. D. Girdwood. Date: 24 Jul 1915. Catalogue record British Library Digitised Manuscripts.
WW1 National Archives War Diary catalogue references, collaborativecollections.org:
- 1st Battalion 4th Gurkha Rifles Theatres of War: France, Belgium and Germany; Gallipoli; India and East Persia.
  - For Gallipoli, the 29th Indian Infantry Brigade War Diary is also very relevant.
- 2nd Battalion 4th Gurkha Rifles Theatres of War: Mesopotamia and North Persia; Salonika, Black Sea and South Russia.
"Gurkha Connections" by Jim Foulds, page 3 of Pdf "Autumn 2012 Newsletter of The War Graves Photographic Project". Article about the grave in Germany of Rifleman Kale Pun, of the 4th Gurkha Regiment During the conflict in North Africa in 1942, the 4GR were in the front line opposing superior German forces, taking grievous casualties. Rifleman Pun was one of the survivors who were rounded up and transferred to a POW camp in Germany. He died in Germany. There is mention of the book Bugles and A Tiger by John Masters recording his time as a young Officer of the 4th Gurkha Regiment and also on the North West Frontier in the 1930s. Available at the British Library and online, see below.
Obituary: "Major 'Dicky' Day" 1922-2013. He was serving with 1/4 GR in 1942 when, in one of worst disasters of the Burma Campaign, the Sittang river bridge was blown up stranding two-thirds of a division on the wrong bank. 5 November 2013 The Telegraph.
"Museum that showcases heroic deeds of Gurkhas" by R D [probably Romesh Dutt] The Tribune Saturday, February 20, 1999. The Museum is located at Subathu and contains memorabilia of the Ist and the 4th Gurkha Rifles.
Listen to a 1978 interview with John Masters (1914-1983), including transcripts s-asian.cam.ac.uk

Online books

Bugles And A Tiger by John Masters 1965 edition, may be read online on the Digital Library of India website. Pdf download 1 Archive.org mirror version; Pdf download 2, Archive.org mirror version.

Bugles and a Tiger, a Volume of Autobiography 1956 may be borrowed from the Internet Archive Lending Library. Only one person at a time is able to borrow, so you may need to wait for the book to be returned, First you must sign up with the Open Library

The Road Past Mandalay by John Masters 1979. Internet Archive (Archive.org) Lending Library. Earlier title: The Road Past Mandalay : a Personal Narrative. First published 1961. 2nd volume of Autobiography. The short first part takes Masters and the 2/4th Ghurkas to Iraq and Syria. After a staff course back in India, the balance of the book concerns his time in Burma, with a Chindit Column. Also see the Fibiwiki page John Masters.

Handbooks for the Indian Army: Gurkhas. Compiled under the orders of the Government by Lieut- Colonel Eden Vansittart 2nd Bn 10th Gurkha Rifles. revised by Major B U Nicolay 1st Bn, 4th Gurkha Rifles 1915 (Reprint 1918), is available to read online on the Digital Library of India website. Catalogued as Gurkhas (1915): Pdf download Archive.org mirror version.
‪A History of the 4th Prince of Wales’s Own Gurkha Rifles 1857-1937 Volume II by Ronald Macdonell and Marcus Macaulay may be read online on the Digital Library of India website, as a pdf download. (Catalogue title includes Riples). Covers the history from 1919. This appears to be a reprint edition published in 1960- the first author's first name is elsewhere stated to be Ranald. (Second of three volumes, first published 1940-1952. The third volume by J.N. Mackay covers the period to 1938-1948)). The first and third volumes are available at the British Library, (UIN: BLL01001795371).
The Gurkhas Pdf download, Digital Library of India. Archive.org version. A regimental history. This appears to be a reprint edition, for which no author is given, and which advises first published 1960. However the text refers to events in 1964.The most likely publication appears to be The Gurkhas by Harold James and Denis Sheil-Small published 1965, London.

The Gurkhas by James, 1965. Link to a pdf download, PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset.

Chin-Lushai Land including a Description of the Various Expeditions into the Chin-Lushai Hills and the Final Annexation of the Country by Surg.-Lieut.-Col. A S Reid, Indian Medical Service, Medical Officer in Charge 2nd Battalion, 4th Gurkha Rifles 1893. British Library Digital file.