11 Gorkha Rifles

The 11 Gorkha Rifles is a Gorkha regiment of the Indian Army that was re-raised after independence.

First Regiment

The 11th Gurkhas was originally founded in 1918 through the amalgamation together of companies of the other Gurkha regiments and the Garhwal Rifles. This regiment saw service in both Palestine and Mesopotamia at the end of the First World War, as well as during the Third Afghan War in 1919, before being disbanded in 1922.

• Battle Honour
  • Afghanistan 1919

Second Regiment

Following India's independence in 1947, the Gurkha regiments of the British Indian Army were divided between the new Indian Army and the British Army. A referendum was held among the soldiers of the four regiments that would transfer to the British as to whether they wished to join the British Army, as the decision to do so was made entirely voluntary. In the event, large numbers of men from the 7th Gurkha Rifles and the 10th Gurkha Rifles, which recruited predominantly from Eastern Nepal, decided not to join their regiments as part of the British Army. So, in order to retain a contingent from this area of Nepal, the Indian Army made the decision to re-raise the 11th Gorkha Rifles. Keeping in mind the large numbers of non-optees and their fighting qualities it was decided to re-raise the 11th Gorkha Rifles. The 11 Gorkha Rifles was officially re-raised on January 1st 1948 with regimental centres at Palampur and Santa Cruz, Mumbai. The regiment was raised with strength from the non-optees of the 7th Gurkha Rifles and the 10th Gurkha Rifles. As the regiment was raised by the Indian Army after independence, it was decided not to retain the honours and traditions of the first 11th Royal Gurkha Rifles of the British Indian Army. Today, the regiment has a total of six battalions. The regiment took part in all major military operations India has undertaken since independence including the 1947 India Pakistan War, 1948 Operation Polo, 1965 India Pakistan War, 1971 India Pakistan War, and in the 1999 Kargil Conflict. The regiment has won a single Param Vir Chakra, which was won by Lt Manoj Kumar Pandey of the 1st Battalion during the 1999 Kargil Conflict.

Battle Honours

• Bogra, East Pakistan 1971, Shingo River Valley, Jammu and Kashmir 1971

Param Vir Chakra

• Manoj Kumar Pandey

See also

• Gorkha regiments of the Indian Army
• Indian Army
• British Indian Army

External links

• 11GR on Bharat-Rakshak