The Garhwal Rifles

Almora, 5 May 1887

The first battalion was raised at Almora on 5 May 1887 under Lieutenant Colonel E. P. Mainwaring. That November it marched to Kaludanda, a hill station later renamed Lansdowne after the Viceroy. The regimental centre was established there on 1 October 1921 and has stayed there since.

The regiment was redesignated the 39th (Garhwali) Regiment of the Bengal Infantry in 1891 and received the title Rifles in 1892. The 1921 Group system made it the 18th Indian Infantry Group, and on 1 December that year it became the 10/18th Royal Garhwal Rifles. The Royal title had been announced on 2 February 1921, at the foundation-stone ceremony for India Gate, and was dropped when India became a republic in 1950. Its soldiers are mostly Garhwali men from the districts of the Garhwal division of Uttarakhand.

Festubert and Neuve Chapelle

Both battalions reached France in 1914. On the night of 23 to 24 November, near Festubert, the 1st Battalion went in to retake trenches held by the Germans. Naik Darwan Singh Negi, wounded twice in the head and once in the arm, was among the first round each traverse, under fire from bombs and rifles at close range. King George V presented his Victoria Cross in France in early December. Sepoy Khudadad Khan of the 129th Baluchis has the earlier action, which is why Darwan Singh is usually described as the first Indian to receive the medal in person. He retired as a Subedar in 1920, was given the title Bahadur in 1926 for his work with wounded soldiers and war widows, and died on 24 June 1950. His son Balbir Singh Negi became a Lieutenant Colonel. The regimental museum at Lansdowne is named after Darwan Singh and holds his VC.

Rifleman Gabar Singh Negi of the 2nd Battalion was in a bayonet party with bombs at Neuve Chapelle on 10 March 1915. He was the first man round each traverse of the German trench, and the enemy were pushed back until they surrendered. He was killed during the action, and his name is on the Neuve Chapelle Memorial. A fair in his name has been held at Chamba since 1925, adopted by the regiment for recruiting and military purposes in 1971.

Lieutenant Kenny at Kot Kai

The regiment's third VC went to Lieutenant William David Kenny of the 4th Battalion, 39th Garhwal Rifles, on the Waziristan campaign. On 2 January 1920 at Kot Kai, his company held an advanced covering position against Mahsuds in much greater numbers. For more than four hours he kept his position, repulsing three attacks and fighting hand to hand. When his company had to withdraw, he turned back with a few men to counter-attack and was killed. He was 20. He is buried in Jandola Cemetery, and his parents received the cross from the King on 2 November 1920.

Nuranang, 17 November 1962

The 4th Battalion held a position near the Nuranang bridge in NEFA as part of 62 Infantry Brigade when the Chinese attacked on 17 November 1962. The attacks came in a series, and a medium machine gun was brought up close to one of the platoons. Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat volunteered with Lance Naik Trilok Singh Negi and Rifleman Gopal Singh Gusain to deal with it.

According to Rawat's Maha Vir Chakra citation, they crawled to within 10 to 15 yards and threw grenades, killing two of the crew and badly wounding a third. Rawat picked up the gun and started back. Close-range fire hit him and he died where he fell, still holding it. Secondary accounts disagree on where the bullet struck him, the citation saying the head and one narrative the chest. They also differ on the fate of the two men with him. Popular stories of a three-day solo defence, with two local women named Sela and Nura, are not in the citation, and the accounts of how he died in those stories do not agree. Negi and Gusain each received the Vir Chakra.

The battalion was awarded the battle honour Nuranang, the only one given for the fighting in NEFA. The place where the action occurred is now called Jaswantgarh and has a war memorial.

Later honours

The regiment holds 44 battle honours, 13 of them since Independence. They include Tithwal 1947-48, Buttur Dograndi and Gadra Road 1965, Hilli 1971, and Batalik, Dras and Kargil 1999. The 17th Battalion is known as the Batalik Kargil battalion and the 18th as the Dras Battalion.

At a glance

• Raised: First battalion raised at Almora, 5 May 1887
• Regimental centre: Lansdowne, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand
• Motto: Yudhaya Krit Nishchaya (Fight with determination)
• War cry: Badri Vishal Lal ki Jai