3rd Gorkha Rifles
3rd Gorkha Rifles
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3rd Gorkha Rifles

The 3rd Gorkha Rifles or Third Gorkha Rifles, abbreviated as 3 GR is an Indian Army infantry regiment. It was originally a Gurkha regiment of the British Indian Army formed in 1815. This regiment recruit mainly Magars and Gurung tribes. They were present at a number of actions and wars including the siege of Delhi in 1857 to the First and Second World Wars. After the Partition of India in 1947 the regiment was one of the six Gorkha regiments transferred to the Indian Army as part of the Tripartite Agreement signed between India, Nepal and Britain at the time of Indian independence. Prior to independence, the regiment was known as the 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles. In 1950 the regiment's title was changed to 3rd Gorkha Rifles. Since 1947 the regiment has participated in a number of conflicts including the 1947 and 1971 wars against Pakistan.

The regiment was raised during the Gurkha War by Sir Robert Colquhoun on 24 April 1815 as the Kemaoon Battalion. It did not consist entirely of Gurkhas but of men from Kumaon and Garhwal. The regiment adopted the tartan of the Clan Colquhoun.

The regiment was primarily used to police the border with Nepal, doing so for many decades until the Indian Mutiny began in 1857. The battalion was actively involved in the efforts to quell it. During the siege of Delhi—which lasted from March to September 1857—the regiment, part of Colonel Colin Campbell's Third Column, took part in the storming of Kashmiri Gate and gained the Battle Honour "Delhi 1857". The mutiny was quelled by July 1858.

The regiment, having been brought into the line of the Bengal Army, was briefly titled the 18th Bengal Native Infantry in 1861 before the regiment gained its present numeral designation when it became the 3rd Gurkha (The Kumaon) Regiment. The regiment saw service in an expedition to Bhutan shortly after the name change.

In 1878 the Second Afghan War began and the regiment, as part of the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the Kandahar Field Force, took part in the march to seize Kandahar. The field force successfully captured the city on 8 January 1879, having experienced great hardship on the march there. The following year the Kandahar Force began the march towards the Afghan capital Kabul to join Major-General Roberts force in an attempt to consolidate their situation in the country. During the journey, near Ghaziri, the force were attacked by a large force of Afghan tribesmen at Ahmad Khel on 19 April 1880. The fighting that ensued was intense and the field force's situation was in the balance until the Afghan forces were successfully repulsed when the 3rd Gurkha formed an infantry square.

The regiment took part in the Third Burmese War after it began in 1885 and operations concluded by the following year under First Brigade. In 1887 the 2nd Battalion was formed, consisting entirely of Garhwalis, but this was separated from the regiment in 1890 to form the 39th (The Garhwal) Regiment of Bengal Light Infantry. A new 2nd Battalion for the 3rd Gurkha was raised that same year and in 1891 the regiment was designated a rifle regiment, becoming the 3rd Gurkha (Rifle) Regiment.

The 3rd Gurkhas took part in numerous campaigns in the volatile North-West Frontier, including the 1st Battalion's participation in the storming of the Dargai Heights on 20 October 1897 during the Tirah Campaign. The battalion was part of the Tirah Field Force intended to put down a large tribal revolt by the Afridi and Orakzais, orchestrated by Afghanistan. The 3rd Gurkhas took part in the advance into the Tirah Region, meeting resistance from tribal forces before moving on to help relieve Fort Lockheart and Fort Gulistan. After this was done the force marched on Dargai where they intended to take the heights above Dargai, controlled by tribal forces.

The heights had originally been taken by the Tirah force on 18 October but they were ordered to withdraw, coming under attack as they did so and allowing the tribal force to return to the heights and strengthen their positions. The operation to retake the heights began with an artillery bombardment at 10:00 am on 20 October. The regiment took part in the initial assault, positioned at the forefront of the attack with the 2nd Gurkha Rifles and the 1st Dorsets. They advanced methodically, moving up the slopes until they charged towards the enemy but sustained heavy casualties and became pinned down. The battle raged on for hours until, after the tribal positions were subject to an artillery bombardment, a final charge was made by the 1st Gordons, followed by the Gurkhas and 3rd Sikhs. The tribal defenders wilted in the face of the charge and the heights were taken later that day.

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