After the Second World War conflicts in Palestine, The Dutch East Indies, French Indo China, Borneo and the troubled partition of India claimed the attention and often the lives of officers and men of the Gurkha Brigade.
At the time of the partition of India there were ten Gurkha Regiments in the Indian Army, each regiment consisted of a number of battalions.
As a result of negotiations between the Nepalese, British and Indian Governments (known as the ‘Tri-Partite Agreement’) four of these regiments, each of two battalions were transferred to the British Army, the remainder staying with the new Indian Army.
Thus on 1st January 1948, four Gurkha regiments became, for the first time, an integral part of the British Army, forming the Brigade of Gurkhas. These regiments were:
When these Regiments moved to the Far East in 1948 they, with other units of the British Army already there, were formed into a Division which, being largely Gurkha, was designated 17 Gurkha Infantry Division. After 1948 the following additional Gurkha Units were raised:
You can find our more about our history on the Gurkha Museum website.