Formation and early campaigns The
16th Sylhet Local Battalion, a unit of the British East India Company that was formed in 1824, can be traced as the regiment's ancestor. Military assignments commenced as soon after the raising of the regiment when the first battalion formed the spearhead for operations in the
First Anglo–Burmese War of 1824–1825. The services of the regiment were to be requisitioned again when the British went to war with
Bhutan in 1864. Two battalion columns of the regiment sallied forth, shoulder to shoulder to crush the Bhutanese revolts and the stronghold of Devnageri. The first
Victoria Cross (VC), awarded to
Richard Ridgeway, came to the regiment as a result of an action on 22 November 1879, in its first ever operational mission when its units were summoned to deal with
Nagaland Rebels. This was the first time that a regular army unit was ever been employed in the Naga hills. The regiment's second Victoria Cross was awarded to
Charles Grant, for his actions on the during the
Manipur Expedition on the
North-East Frontier on 27 March 1891 whilst attached to the 2nd Battalion. In his report following the incident, Lieutenant Grant recommended every member of his party be awarded the
Indian Order of Merit, which was at that time the highest award a native member of the British Indian Army could be awarded. This recommendation was later accepted and all of Grant's men were also rewarded with six months pay and allowances. The
Younghusband Expedition of 1904 was another operation that brought a VC to the regiment, awarded to
John Duncan Grant—no relation to Charles Grant—for his actions during the
British expedition to Tibet. Braving the high altitude climes of Tibet, the expeditionary force successfully stormed the Tibetan fortress of
Gyantse at 18,000 feet.
World War I World War I (1914–1918) testified to the enigmatic valour and heroism of the regiment during the course of combat service in
Italy,
France,
Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) and
Egypt. During the fighting in France, the 2nd/8th distinguished itself by fighting virtually to the last man during the Battle of Loos on 25 September 1915, hurling themselves time after time against the weight of German defences. Having mustered almost eight hundred men to begin with, by the end of the day they had a strength of just one officer and forty-nine men. The regiment won 14 battle honours during this period: • La Bassee, Festubert, Givenchy, Neauve Chapelle, Aubers, France and Flanders 1914–15; Egypt, Megiddo, Sharon, Palestine, Tigris, Kut-at-Amara, Baghdad, Mesopotamia 1916–18. Following the war, it also participated in the
Third Afghan War, earning the Afghanistan 1919 battle honour.
Inter war years During the years between the two World Wars, the 8th Goorkhas were based in India, where they undertook various garrison duties, in between service on the North West Frontier. It was whilst the 2/8th was based at
Quetta in the mid-1930s that a member of the Regiment would display outstanding courage, this time not during war but during peace. In 1935 a series of powerful earthquakes rocked north-west India and thousands of people were killed. The men of the 2/8th worked tirelessly in their efforts to help free many of the civilians that were caught beneath the ruins.
Nandlal Thapa received the
Empire Gallantry Medal (EGM) for repeatedly risking his life entering buildings that were in danger of collapsing amidst the aftershocks in order to rescue injured survivors.
Chitrabahadur Gurung received the same medal for retrieving a British couple from deep rubble. At the time the EGM was the highest award for gallantry for actions performed not in the face of the enemy, although later when the
George Cross (GC) came into being in 1940, Nandlal Thapa received the GC to replace his EGM. The regiment's World War II battle honours include: • Iraq 1941, North Africa 1940–43, Gothic Line, Coriano, Sant' Angelo, Gaiana Crossing, Point 551, Italy 1942–44; Tamu Road, Bishenpur, Kanglato-ngbi, Mandalay, Myinmu Bridgehead, Singhu, Shan-datgyi, Sittang, Imphal, Tanbingon, and Burma 1942–45. The regiment became one of the
Gorkha regiments (India) when the spelling was changed for all of the transferred regiments.
Kashmir operations Soon after partition, the 2/8 Gorkha Rifles saw action in the Leh operations of 1948. The battalion made a forced march over inhospitable terrain and reached Leh. Major Hari Chand and his company were involved in a series of raids that demoralized the Pakistani forces, this included destruction of the Pakistani mountain guns at the village of Basgo which had been brought in to consolidate the raiders hold over Leh. In this action, Major Hari Chand and four other ranks were awarded the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) and Vir Chakra (VRC) respectively.
Sino-Indian war of 1962 One
Param Vir Chakra was awarded to
Major Dhan Singh Thapa, of the 1/8 Gorkha Rifles, during the Sino Indian War. To date this is the only recipient of the Param Vir Chakra for the regiment.
Later period The regiment was also involved in the
1965 and
1971 Indo-Pakistan conflicts during which members of the regiment were awarded 4 Maha Vir Chakras. The regiment was also actively involved in the operations in
Sri Lanka where again members of the regiment were awarded for gallantry winning one
Maha Vir Chakra and four Vir Chakras. In 2000, the 5/8, while performing duty in
Sierra Leone was involved in
Operation Khukri and played a pivotal role. When the 1/8 became a
Mechanised Infantry Regiment, a further battalion was raised on July 1, 1979, and named the 7/8 Gorkha Rifles. ==Battalions==