WW2 Article of the 9th Gurkhas

[sirupate]

Picked this up from Ebay the other day, a brief background to when and why the 9th Gurkhas came into being;
In April 1893 the 9th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry became a Khas regiment (Chhetri, and Thakur being the stable of the regiment), and the Bengal Army converted all sixteen Hindustani Infantry Regiments into class units. The Khas class came about as a result of a query as to recruiting more Newars into the regiment, in reply Captain Eden Vansittart (of 5th GR) the current recruiting Officer replied with this argument; 'The valiant Army which had overrun Nepal, Kumaon, and Garwhal, attacked China and Tibet, and twice fought the British in the 1814 and 1816 War, was mainly made up of Khas Gurkhas (again a misuse of the word Gurkha), and as such this class of men were much more deserving of enlistment.' Captain Eden Vansittart is considered the 'Father' of the 9th Gurkhas. By General Order in 1891 all Goorkha titled Regiments were to have the name Goorkha changed to Gurkha (Ochterlony’s original spelling).


Havildars Kukri


The 9th having their issued kukri inspected by the Subedar