United Kingdom
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! style="text-align: left;" | Branch:
| Army
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! style="text-align: left;" | Size:
| Two battalions
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! style="text-align: left;" | Garrison/HQ:
| Shorncliffe (1st Battalion) Seria, Brunei (2nd Battalion)
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| HRH The Prince of Wales
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| Major-General Peter Thomas Clayton Pearson, CBE
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! style="text-align: left; " | Nickname:
| The Gurkhas; The Bravest of the Brave
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! style="text-align: left; " | Patron:
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! style="text-align: left;" | Motto:
| Kaphar hunnu bhanda marnu ramro (Better to die than live a coward) (Gurkhali)
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! style="text-align: left;" | March:
| Quick - Bravest of the Brave Double Past - Keel Row Slow - God Bless the Prince of Wales
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! style="text-align: left;" | Anniversaries:
| Meiktila (1 March), Medicina (16 April), Gallipoli (7 August), Delhi Day (14 September)
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The Royal Gurkha Rifles is a regiment of the British Army, forming part of the Brigade of Gurkhas. It is unique in that it recruits Gurkhas from Nepal, which is a nation independent of the United Kingdom. The regiment was formed in 1994 from the amalgamation of the four separate Gurkha regiments in the British Army:
The Royal Gurkha Rifles are considered to be some of the finest soldiers in the world, as is evidenced by the high regard they are held in for both their fighting skill, and their smartness of turnout on parade. Their standard of drill is considered to be on a par with that of the Foot Guards, so much so that on many occasions the regiment has mounted the guard at Buckingham Palace.
In December 1995, Lieutenant-Colonel Bijaykumar Rawat became the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, the first Nepalese to become a battalion commander in the RGR. He oversaw the departure of the battalion from Hong Kong just before its transfer to Chinese control, and the battalion's relocation to Church Crookham, Hampshire in 1996. Their motto is 'It's better to die than to be a coward'.
1st Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles (1994- ); formed by the amalgamation of the 1st Bn, 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles and 1st Bn, 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles.
2nd Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles (1994- ); formed by renaming the 1st Bn, 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles.
3rd Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles (1994-1996); formed by renaming the 1st Bn, 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles. Amalgamated with the 2nd Bn, Royal Gurkha Rifles in 1996 as part of run down of British forces in Hong Kong.
The two battalions of the RGR are formed as light role infantry; they are not equipped with either armoured or wheeled vehicles. One battalion is based at Shorncliffe, near Folkestone in Kent as part of 2 Infantry Brigade, and is available for deployment to most areas in Europe and Africa. The other is based in Brunei as part of Britain's commitment to maintaining a military presence in SE Asia. The two battalions rotate in each role, usually for three years at a time.
As part of the restructuring of the infantry, the UK based battalion will be transferred to 52 Infantry Brigade and given a more mainstream role. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (5 SCOTS), the UK based RGR battalion will rotate as part of 16 Air Assault Brigade - it will spend five years with this formation, followed by two years as a light infantry battalion with 52 Brigade. 2RGR will taken on this role for the first time in 2010.
