Бірінші дүниежүзілік соғыстағы британ үнді әскерінің 11-ші Гуркха полкі

the regiment of the British Indian Army in the First World War

The 11 Gorkha Rifles is a Gorkha regiment of the Indian Army that was re raised after independence. The regiment consists of primarily the Kirant Tribes Rai, Limbu, Yakkha, Sunuwar of Eastern Nepal, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Dooars of West Bengal, Sikkim and other parts of Northeast India. Though it is considered to be the youngest of the Gorkha regiments its lineage is as long as those of the 7th Gurkha Rifles and 10th Gurkha Rifles. The regiment has participated in all major military operations India has undertaken since independence including in the Indo Pakistani War of 1947, Operation Polo in 1948, the Indo Pakistani War of 1965, the Indo Pakistani War of 1971, and the Kargil War in 1999. Units of the regiment have also deployed abroad on UN missions.

The 11th Gurkha Rifles was raised as an ad hoc unit in 1918 with troops and officers being drawn from the various Gurkha regiments. The regiment, consisting of four battalions, 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 and the troops being reverted to their original units. There were no separate insignias authorized for this regiment and the personnel wore the badges of distinction of their parent units, though there have been instances where unofficial badges were made and worn by some personnel.

Following Indian 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 (2nd, 6th, 7th and 10th Gurkhas) 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. Of the four regiments, one battalion (4th battalion, 2nd Gurkhas) opted en masse to join the Indian Army and became part of the 8 Gorkha Rifles as their 5th battalion. In the event, large numbers of men from the 7th and 10th Gurkhas, which recruited predominantly from eastern Nepal, opted to join the Indian Army as against the British Army to whom their regiments were allotted. So, in order to retain a contingent from this area of Nepal, the Indian Army made the decision to re raise the 11 Gorkha Rifles. 11 Gorkha Rifles was officially re raised on 1 January 1948, with the regimental centres at Palampur and Santa Cruz, Mumbai. The regimental centre was subsequently shifted to Jalapahar in Darjeeling, and then moved to Clement Town, Dehradun for a brief period, and finally to Lucknow where it was firmly established. The regiment was raised predominantly with the manpower from the non optees of the 7th and 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 Gurkha Rifles of the British Indian Army. Today, the regiment has a total of six regular and one Territorial Army battalions.

During the Kargil War in 1999, the 1st battalion (1/11 GR) saw extensive action. Commanded by Colonel Lalit Rai, it was tasked with the capture of several strategic peaks in the Kargil region. The crowning moment of paltan's history came during the 1999 Indo Pak Kargil conflict. After a successful Siachen tenure, the Bn was concentrated at Nurla for de induction. The advance party had already reached Pune and the ECC clothing issued to the unit had been deposited. Bulk of the weapons had been handed over to the relieving unit. It was in these circumstances that on 08 May 99, the battalion became the first unit to be inducted in the Kargil war. It was only on 02 Jun 99 that Col Lalit Rai, took over the reins of the paltan. Not to be disheartened by adversities, the ‘KIRANTIS’ in a trail of glory wiped out the enemy conquering Khalubar, Kukarthang, Point 5289, Point 5190, Point 5300 and Tekri in their stride thus proving once again that they are the best fighters in the world. During the attack on 'Area Bunker', Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey, in spite of being injured in shoulder and leg, single handedly destroyed one enemy bunker after another until he finally received a fatal UMG burst on his forehead. Inspired by his spontaneous valour, the KIRANTIS struck like lightning upon the enemy until not a single one was left standing. For this act of exceptional bravery, Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey was posthumously awarded the highest gallantry award the ‘PARAM VIR CHAKRA’. Apart from Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey, 13 other braves made the supreme sacrifice and immortalized themselves in the annals of history. Col Lalit Rai,
Hav Bhim Bahadur Dewan and Lance Naik Gyanendra Rai were awarded the Vir Chakra. In recognition of its good work, the battalion was awarded the Chief of the Army Staff Unit Citation, 2nd time within the decade. The battalion was bestowed with Battle Honour, 'BATALIK' and theatre honour, 'KARGIL'. Also, 'The First' entered the exclusive club of those rarest of the rare units of the Indian Army to have won both the ‘Param Vir Chakra’ and the ‘Ashok Chakra’ thus earning the coveted title of being 'The Bravest of the Brave'. Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey was a young officer in 1/11 GR, who was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra (PVC), India's highest gallantry award, for his actions in Batalik sector.

The battle honours of the regiment are Bogra, East Pakistan 1971, Shingo River Valley, Jammu and Kashmir 1971 and Batalik, Op Vijay J&K 1999. Theater honours are East Pakistan 1971 Jammu and Kashmir and Kargil for Operation Vijay 1999.