42nd Gurkha Rifles

Refer to general article Gurkha Rifles

6th Gurkha Rifles

Chronology

• 1817 raised as the Cuttack Legion
• 1823 renamed Rangpur Light Infantry
• 1826 became the 8th Local Light Infantry
• 1844 became the 1st Assam Light Infantry
• 1861 renamed the 42nd Bengal Native Infantry
• 1864 renamed the 42nd (Assam) Bengal Native (Light) Infantry
• 1885 became the 42nd (Assam) Bengal (Light) Infantry
• 1886 became the 42nd Regiment of Goorkha Light Infantry
• 1891 became the 42nd Gurkha (Rifle) Regiment of Bengal Infantry
• 1901 became the 42nd Gurkha Rifles
• 1903 became the 6th Gurkha Rifles
• 1947 allocated to Britain on Partition
• 1958 became the 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles
• 1994 amalgamated with the 1st Battalion, 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) to form the 1st Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles.

Regimental histories

• Historical record of the 6th Gurkha Rifles. Vol.1, 1817-1919 compiled by D.G.J. Ryan, G.C. Strahan, J.K. Jones. 1925. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01011835772

Historical record of the 6th Gurkha Rifles. Vol.2 1919-1948 by H.R.K. Gibbs. 1955. Available at the BL UIN: BLL01011835773

[Historical record of the 6th Gurkha Rifles]. Vol.3, The steadfast Gurkha : historical record of 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles, 1948-1982 by Charles Messenger c 1985. Available at the BL UIN: BLL01011838612

• Britain's Brigade of Gurkhas : the 2nd K.E.O. Goorkha Rifles, the 6th Q.E.O. Gurkha Rifles, the 7th D.E.O. Gurkha Rifles and the 10th P.M.O. Gurkha Rifles by E.D. Smith. Originally published 1973, and reprinted 1982. Series: Famous regiments. Available at the BL UIN: BLL01007379549

First World War

1/6th Gurkha Rifles
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 6th Gurkha Rifles and for the 29th Indian Infantry Brigade, of which the 6th 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).

2/6th Gurkha Rifles
In 1915, the 2/6th Gurkhas (2/6 GR) were part of the 3rd Infantry Brigade, in the 1st (Peshawar) Division, defending the border of North West Frontier from attack by various tribesmen including the Mohmands, the Bunerwals and the Swatis. The 2/6th Gurkhas were deployed to Mesopotamia in March 1916. The Battalion War Diary for 2/6GR in the first few months in Mesopotamia records their marching from camp to camp up the Euphrates river from Basra to Nasiriyah, constantly working on maintaining the flood defences in this low-lying waterlogged area. It seems disease was a constant threat and they record an outbreak of cholera.

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

External links

• 6th Queen Elizabeth’s Own Gurkha Rifles Official website
  • Includes links to the following 6 GR Journals which are available on issue.com. Click on full screen for ease of reading. Download also available.
    • The Journal 6GR No 100, 2020 Includes article page 68 (digital page 70) "Slim Sahib" by John Mackinlay. WJ Slim, later Major-General, was posted to the 1st Battalion, 6th Gurkha Rifles at Abbottabad in May 1920. Also includes 1934 photograph of Officers page 2.
    • The Journal 6GR No 99, 2019
    • The Journal 6GR No 98, 2018. Includes article page 76 (digital page 78) by John Mackinlay about the early history of the regiment in Assam under Commanding Officer of the First Assam Light Infantry Simon Fraser Hannay 1839 to 1861, including some extract from the journal of his wife Margaret who died 1841. The regiment was subsequently named 42nd Assam Regiment of Native Infantry (Light Infantry)
• 6th Gurkha Rifles British Empire Website
  
• 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles Wikipedia
• WW1 National Archives War Diary catalogue references, collaborativecollections.org:
  • 1st Battalion 6th Gurkha Rifles Theatres of War: Egypt, Palestine and Syria; Gallipoli; Mesopotamia and North Persia
    • For Gallipoli, the 29th Indian Infantry Brigade War Diary is also very relevant.
  • 2nd Battalion 6th Gurkha Rifles Theatres of War: Mesopotamia and North Persia; Salonika, Black Sea and South Russia; India and East Persia
  • 3rd Battalion 6th Gurkha Rifles No diaries
• "Joanna's dad and a very British hero called Pun: Why Major Lumley would be 'overwhelmed with shame' at the British Government's treatment of the Gurkhas" by Geoffrey Wansell 18 September 2008 dailymail.co.uk (retrieved 3 May 2014.) Includes details of the the battle for Mogaung in northern Burma in June 1944 (3rd Battalion of the 6th Gurkha Rifles). Two Victoria Crosses were awarded as a result, to Capt. Michael Allmand, who was killed and to Rifleman Tul Bahadur Pun.
• The Gurkha Museum Peninsula Barracks, Winchester, Hampshire, England. Covers the 2nd, 6th, 7th and 10th Gurkha Rifles, those Gurkha Regiments which became part of the British Army.

Historical books online

• The Gurkhas 1928 Archive.org, mirror from Digital Library of India. Full title: The Gurkhas: their Manners, Customs and Country by Major W Brook Northey, late 1st KGO Gurkha Rifles and Captain C J Morris 3rd QAO Gurkha Rifles. Also available as a download from PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset.

The Land Of The Gurkhas Or The Himalayan Kingdom Of Nepal by Major W Brook Northey, late 1st KGO Gurkha Rifles. Reprint edition, first published 1937. Archive.org. The author held the post of Recruiting Officer for five years, during which he was permitted to visit the interiors of Nepal that were out of bounds to other Europeans. Also available to download as a pdf from PAHAR-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset.

• The Gurkhas Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. A regimental history. This appears to be a reprint edition, for which no author is given, and which advises first published 1960. However the final chapter 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.