This article contains a complete list of Gurkha battalions which served in the First World War and you can read more about each unit by clicking on the blue links below. This is one of a number of articles I’ve written to help you research soldiers who served in the Indian Army during the First World War:
Gurkha Regiments of the First World War
Below is a complete list of Gurkha infantry battalions which served in the First World War. If you click on the regiment’s title you will be taken to a new page which will give you the following information:
- The regiment’s lineage and class composition
- Where the battalion was stationed in July 1914
- An overview of its services during the First World War
- A description of its war diaries including catalogue numbers
- Further sources of information
- Transcriptions taken from the battalion’s war diary
This is a work in progress and some battalions have more information than others. I have also written separate guides to Indian cavalry regiments and Indian infantry regiments.
The photograph above shows Gurkhas of the 2nd King Edward VII’s Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) taken just prior to the outbreak of the First World War. The Queen’s Truncheon which is partially cropped out is being held by the Gurkha in the centre. The ribbon bar on the soldier’s chests is for the India General Service Medal.
Gurkha Battalions of the First World War
1st King George’s Own Gurkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment), 1st Battalion
1st King George’s Own Gurkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment), 2nd Battalion
1st King George’s Own Gurkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment), 3rd Battalion
2nd King Edward’s Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles), 1st Battalion
2nd King Edward’s Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles), 2nd Battalion
2nd King Edward’s Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles), 3rd Battalion
3rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles, 1st Battalion
3rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles, 2nd Battalion
3rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles, 3rd Battalion
3rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles, 4th Battalion
4th Gurkha Rifles, 1st Battalion
4th Gurkha Rifles, 2nd Battalion
5th Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force), 1st Battalion
5th Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force), 2nd Battalion
5th Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force), 3rd Battalion
6th Gurkha Rifles, 1st Battalion
6th Gurkha Rifles, 2nd Battalion
6th Gurkha Rifles, 3rd Battalion
7th Gurkha Rifles, 1st Battalion
7th Gurkha Rifles, 2nd Battalion
7th Gurkha Rifles, 3rd Battalion
8th Gurkha Rifles, 1st Battalion
8th Gurkha Rifles, 2nd Battalion
8th Gurkha Rifles, 3rd Battalion
9th Gurkha Rifles, 1st Battalion
9th Gurkha Rifles, 2nd Battalion
9th Gurkha Rifles, 3rd Battalion
10th Gurkha Rifles, 1st Battalion
10th Gurkha Rifles, 2nd Battalion
11th Gurkha Rifles, 1st Battalion
11th Gurkha Rifles, 2nd Battalion
11th Gurkha Rifles, 3rd Battalion
11th Gurkha Rifles, 4th Battalion