3rd Gurkha Rifles

Refer to general article Gurkha Rifles

Chronology

• 1815 raised as Kumaon Battalion
• 1826 became Kumaon Local Battalion
• 1860 became Kumaon Battalion
• 1861 became 18th Bengal Native Infantry
• 1864 became 3rd (Kumaon) Gurkha Regiment
• 1901 became 3rd Gurkha Rifles
• 1907 became 3rd Queen's Own Gurkha Rifles
• 1908 became 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles
• 1947 allocated to India on Partition

Regimental histories

• The Regimental History of the 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles. Volume II, 1927 to 1947. Edited by Brigadier C. N. Barclay 1953. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01001795370 .

John Morris

John Morris served as a commissioned officer in the Indian Army with the 3rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles from 1918 until 1934 in Palestine, Afghanistan (the Third Afghan War in 1919), Waziristan and the North West Frontier of India. His autobiography Hired to Kill, Some Chapters of Autobiography was published in 1960. (London, Rupert Hart-Davis ). "Chapter Fifteen, in which he describes how he and his company were ambushed by Mahsud tribesmen on the frontier is a little masterpiece. In a quiet way, Mr Morris is one of the living masters of English prose style." Available at the British Library, and online, refer below.

External links

• 3rd Gurkha Rifles British Empire website
• 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles Regiments.org, an archived website
• Kulbir Thapa cwgc.org, now an archived webpage. Lance Naik Kulbir Thapa was a Rifleman in the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Gurkha Rifles. He was awarded the Victoria Cross at Fauquissart, France for his action in rescuing three men in September 1915, and was the first Nepalese recipient.
• Soldiers' Stories: Captain Walter Bagot-Chester 3rd Battalion The 3rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles, awarded the Military Cross (MC) for his part in the Third Battle of Gaza, Palestine, in November 1917. National Army Museum.
• Military Cross awarded to Subadar Pahal Sing Thapa, 3rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles. He enlisted into 1/3 Gurkha Rifles in March 1924, served with the 1st Battalion during the Red Shirt Rebellion in 1931 and on the North West Frontier in 1936-37 . Subadar Pahal Singh Thapa was captured at Sittang Burma in February 1942 by the Japanese following the Battle of Sittang Bridge. In 1944 he was employed on road repairs near Tiddim, Burma and it was from here that he organised and carried out a highly successful escape. dnw.co.uk
• Military Medal (M M), awarded to Naik Gopal Sing Thapa, 3rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles. He was also captured at Sittang Burma in February 1942 by the Japanese following the Battle of Sittang Bridge.dnw.co.uk
• Obituary: Brigadier John Thornton 1927-2014 14 December 2014 The Telegraph, archived page. He was commissioned into 3rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles and posted to the 2nd Battalion. At the time of partition he served on internal security duties in the Rawalpindi area. His battalion had the task of escorting thousands of Hindu refugees from Pakistan to India and returning with as many Muslims through territory swarming with gangs who murdered, pillaged and set fire to villages.

Historical books online

• A Short History of the 3rd (Queen's Own) Gurkha Rifles 1907. The author is catalogued as H D Hutchinson. HathiTrust Digital Library. Archive.org version
• The Regimental History of the 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles from April 1815 to December 1927, edited by Maj.-Gen. Nigel G. Woodyatt 1929 HathiTrust Digital Library. Also available Central Secretariat Library (CSL) Digital Repository, Delhi as a pdf, and Archive.org mirror version.
• 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.

• Handbooks for the Indian Army: Gurkhas. Compiled under the orders of the Government by Major C J Morris, late 2nd Bn, 3rd QAO Gurkha Rifles Second edition 1936, revised by the author, first published 1933, catalogued as Gurkhas (1936): Archive.org mirror version, mirror from Digital Library of India. An earlier edition with the same title by another author was published in 1915.

Hired to Kill: Some Chapters of Autobiography by Charles John Morris 1960. Link to a pdf download, PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Archive.org mirror version.

• 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.