Quarter Guard 11 GRRC

The 11th Gorkha Rifles, the only regiment to be raised comprising of troops from Eastern Nepal (Rais and Limbus) is the first Regiment to be raised after independence. The Regt raised at Palampur – Punjab (now in Himachal Pradesh) on 1st January 1948 by Col HS Chauhan (Father of the Regiment) from amongst the non-optees of 7th and 10th Gorkha Rifles.

At the time of Independence  when the division of the Indian Armed Forces was being done, the question of the future employment of Gorkha troops came up. At that time there were ten Gorkha Regiments in the Indian Army, each with two battalions. To settle the issue, the Governments of India, Nepal and Britain considered the matter and a Tripartite Agreement was signed on 09 Nov 47. As per this Agreement, the 2nd, 6th, 7th and 10th Gorkha Rifles were transferred to the British Army while the remaining six Gorkha Regiments were to continue service with the Indian Army. Tps of the 7th and 10th Gorkha Rifles hailed from Eastern Nepal.
Transfer of tps to the British Army was to be on a purely voluntary basis. A referendum was held in the presence of representatives of the Indian and Nepalese Governments. Troops from the 7th and 10th Gorkha Rifles opted against transfer to the British Army in large number 2/7 GR almost as a whole opted against transfer to the British Army. This also included Naik Ganju Lama, Victoria Cross, Military Medal who later retired as an Honorary Captain. Since there was no Gorkha Regiment in the Indian Army with troops from Eastern Nepal, as also keeping in mind the large number of non-optees and their fighting qualities, it was decided to raise the Eleventh Gorkha Rifles. Thus on 01 Jan 1948 the Regimental Centre and 3/11 GR (With almost complete strength from 2/7 GR) were raised at Palampur and Santa Cruz respectively. In 1948, as the number of non- optees increased, 4/11 GR and 5/11 GR were also raised. Later 1/11 GR and 2/11 GR were raised on 01 Jan 1960 and 11 Jan 1963 respectively. 6/11 GR and 7/11 GR were raised after 1962 Sino Indian Conflict.

Details of Raising For First World War

The 11th Gorkha Rifles did not have an Indian home station. Their raising was effected overseas and they were not popular with the British Officers of the other Gurkha regiments who could not see the need to create yet another regiment when more battalions could have been created for existing regiments. The four battalions were raised in the Middle East in May 1918 to permit the transfer of every possible British battalion to France for the war in Europe.

1st Battalion – raised on 18th May 1918 at Kul – al – Amara by transfer of one company each from 1/5 GR, 2/5 GR, 1/6 GR and 2/6 GR. It was disbanded on 20th Jul 1921 at Abbotabad, After  the disbanding the troops were sent to 2/5 Gorkha Rifles.

2nd Battalion –  It was raised on 24th May 1918 at Baghdad by transfer of  one company each from 1/2 GR, 1/3 GR, 1/7 GR and 2/4 GR. Disbanded on 15 Jul 1921 at Abbotabad, and the troops went to 2/4 GR and 1/7 GR.

3rd Battalion – Raised on 25th May 1918 at Baghdad by transfer of one company each from 2/9 GR, 1/10 GR, 1/39 and 2/39 Garhwal Rifles. Drafts from 1/7 GR, 1/9 GR and 2/10 GR to replace the Garhwalis were transferred out. The unit was disbanded on 12th Mar 1922 and troops were sent to  2/5 GR, 1/7 GR and 1/10 GR.

4th Battalion – Raised on 24th May 1918 in Palestine by transfer of one company each from 1/1 GR, 2/3 GR, 3/3 GR and 2/7 GR. 4/11 GR was disbanded in India in late 1919, having sent drafts to reinforce 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalons. The unit won BATTLE HONOUR - AFGHANISTAN in 1919