The name ‘Gurkha’ comes from the hill town of Gorkha from which the Nepalese kingdom had expanded.
The brigade has always been dominated by four ethnic groups – the Gurungs and Magars from central Nepal, the Rais from the north-east and Limbus from the east. The latter live in villages of impoverished hill farmers.
More than 200,000 Gurkha soldiers went on to serve in the British Army in the two world wars – with 43,000 losing their lives.
Over the past 50 years they have served in Malaysia and Borneo – from 1948 to 1967 – Cyprus, the Falklands, Kosovo and Hong Kong and more recently in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They have received 13 Victoria Crosses between them during their years of service.
The Gurkhas were formally incorporated into 16 Air Assault Brigade, Britain’s rapid reaction force, having completed 34 tours in Afghanistan.
The Gurkhas serve in a variety of roles, mainly in the infantry but also as engineers, logisticians and signals specialists.
But their numbers have come down from a peak of 112,000 men during the WW2 to about 3,500.
The Gurkhas are now based at Shorncliffe near Folkestone, Kent, with soldiers still selected from young men living in the hills of Nepal.
Around 28,000 enter into the selection procedure for just over 200 places each year.
