Welcome to the website of 2nd King Edward VII’s Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)

The 2nd Goorkhas was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army before being transferred to the British Army on India’s independence in 1947.  At that time the 4th Battalion joined the Indian Army as the 5th Battalion, 8th Gurkha Rifles (Sirmoor Rifles), where it exists to this day.

As part of the British Army, the Regiment served in Malaya, Hong Kong, the UK, Brunei and many other locations worldwide until 1994 when it was amalgamated with the other three British Army Gurkha infantry Regiments to form the Royal Gurkha Rifles.

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On this day, 13th December, in....

1916 After a break of almost six months operations began again against the Turks in the area of Kut. The 1^st Battalion was required initially to act as Corps and the Division Reserve before returning a week later to 27^th Brigade and occupation of a picquet line south of Kut.
 

1943 The 4th Battalion, part of the Razmak Brigade Frontier Column (Razcol) was returning to camp from a training exercise when at dusk they came under fire from Mahsud tribesmen who 'were swarming across the line of withdrawal' and incurred several casualties. Captain Lockey made two trips under heavy fire to successfully recover four of the casualties and their weapons. He later took out a fighting patrol to search for wounded and brought in three more casualties despite it getting dark and many armed tribesmen searching for weapons and equipment. As they withdrew to camp they were pursued by enemy tribesmen who 'followed up with exceptional boldness; one rash Mahsud lost his head from a kukri stroke as he endeavoured to snatch a tommy gun from a wounded Rifleman. This was a major contact with total casualties amounting to 17 Gurkhas killed and 13 wounded (including the Commanding Officer of the 4th Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Parsons).  It was estimated that 30 tribesmen had been hit. Captain Lockey was subsequently awarded the MC and Naik [Corporal] Gangbir Gurung the IDSM for their gallantry.

Captain Norman Lockey in July 1944

 

1962 On the night of 13/14 December, rebels in the Brunei revolt tried to infiltrate into the town of Tutong in 7 longboats. An ambush by C and D Companies of the 1st Battalion killed 26 of them.
 

1967 Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra unveiled the stained glass window in the Indian Army Room at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, commemorating the 2nd Goorkhas 150 years of service from 1815 to 1965. The window was designed and made by Mr Lawrence Lee who had already designed several windows for the Academy chapel.

The window in the Indian Army Memorial Room, Sandhurst

The models for the two figures were Major (later Lieutenant Colonel) Digby Willoughby MC and Major (QGO) Partapsing Gurung, MVO, both of the 1st Battalion.  Colonel Denis Wood, who was responsible for organising the event, recalled: "Princess Alexandra’s Lady in Waiting was Lady Mary Fitz-Alan Howard, one of the four daughters of the Duke of Norfolk. Her shoes were killing her and she hid behind me in the corner opposite the window to take them off and stand stocking-footed".

Use the box below to search the ‘On This Day’ database. Dates should be in the format YYYY-MM-DD (e.g. 1948-02-09 for 9th February 1948).