ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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King Edward VII's Gurkha (The Sirmoor Rifles) or King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) was a regiment of gunmen from the British Indian Army before being transferred to the British Army during India's independence in 1947. The battalion joined the Indian army as a battalion, Gorkha Rifles, where it is still active to date (2020). As a unit of the British army, the regiment served in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Brunei until 1994, when it merged with the other three Gurkha regiments to form the Royal Gurkha Rifles. It was the only Gurkha regiment that had no khukuri on its bereavement badge. The regiment recruited soldiers from Nepal.

Training and initial campaigns
The regiment was first raised in 1815 as the Sirmoor Battalion. It was the first Gurkha unit in the service of the East India Company to be formed during the 3rd Mahratta War in 1817. The regiment, later named (Sirmoor) Local Battalion, obtained its first battle honour at Bhurtpore in 1825. During the first Sikh war, the regiment fought in Bhudaiwal and Sobraon, as well as at the Battle of Aliwal. The staff then had a standard whose mat was broken by gunfire. The standard had been captured by the Sikhs, but it was recovered by a small group of Gurkhas led by a Havildar who made a way in the middle of enemy lines.

During the Indian mutiny, the Sirmoor Battalion was one of the Indian regiments that remained loyal to Britain. It was during this period that the regiment participated in the defense of the Hindu Rao Palace, near Delhi. For his participation in this action, the Sirmoor Battalion received the Royal Scepter, which replaced the standard they had to abandon when the regiment became a regiment of riflemen in 1858, and was then replaced by the Royal Scepter. With the decision to number the Gurkha regiments in 1861, the Sirmoor riflemen became the Gurkha regiment. In 1876, the relationship with the kingship was strengthened when the Prince of Galle Edouard VII gave him his patronage. The regiment then became the (Prince of Wales' Own) Gúrkha Regiment (the Sirmoor Rifles).

First World War
During the First World War, the Gurkha (then called King Edward's Own Gurkha Rifles) and the other regiments of the Gurkha Brigade served first in Flanders. In 1915, the Battalion moved to Egypt, before returning to India in 1916. The Battalion was sent to Persia and Mesopotamia in 1916, helping the fall of Baghdad. In 1919 he was posted to Norperforce in Iran.

Second World War
The Second World War saw the Gurkhas serving in many different theatres. The battalion was initially in Cyprus before travelling to North Africa as part of the Indian infantry brigade, an Indian division, with which he fought at El Alamein.