Oh those wild and crazy little Nepalese - Gurkhas still going strong

Hiya folks,

for those following the Gurkha thread...

according to a highly reliable source (well, ok, I've got a copy of a
recent all-Gurkha supplement that came included with the June 2001 issue
of
the UK magazine "Combat and Survival" - I bought it for the Gurkha
info),
the current Gurkha strength in the British Army is slightly over 3000.

The brigade of Gurkhas was reduced and the rifle regiments amalgamated
in
1994.

Currently, the Gurkha units include:

Brigade of Gurkhas HQ.
1st BN, The Royal Gurkha Rifles - in Brunei.
2nd BN, The RGR - in Shornecliffe in the UK.
A Gurkha Reinforcement Company as C-Coy, The Highlanders.
A Gurkha Reinforcement Company as C-Coy, 2nd BN, The Parachute Regiment.
A Gurkha Reinforcement Company as C-Coy, The Royal Irish Regiment.
Gurkha Demonstration Company Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Gurkha Demonstration Company NCO Tactical Wing School of Infantry
Brecon.
28th Queen's Own Gurkha Transport Squadron, 10 Regiment RLC at
Colchester.
250 Gurkha Signal Squadron, 30 Signal Regiment at Blandford.
69 Field Squadron, Queen's Gurkha Engineers, 36 Engineer Regiment at
Maidstone.
Gurkha Training Wing at the Infantry Training Battalion, in Catterick.

2 RGR deployed to East Timor in 1999, and was replaced by 1 RGR in mid
2000.

This source also mentioned that "Gurkha Reinforcement Company B-Coy, 1
BN
the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment" was deployed, with the Parachute
Regiment reinforcement Gurkhas to Bosnia and the Falklands.  I wonder if
this means that the Gurkhas maintain three reinforcement companies that
get
used where they're needed, and don't always maintain a regimental
afiliation.  Though, this would seem to not make sense for the Parachute
qualified Gurkhas - they'd need to keep the airborne skills sharp.

The Parachute Regiment reinforcement Gurkhas deployed to Sierra Leone
with
1 BN Parachute Regiment in 2000.

They conclude by suggesting that even though 48 Brigade of Gurkhas was
disbanded as a tactical formation, the recruiting problems among the
other
British infantry regiments (and more specialized units) will continue
the
need for more Gurkhas.	They might see their roles expanded to included
armoured infantry, and they suggest that as there is a second signal
unit
(246 Gurkha Signal Squadron) being formed, this might indicate a
potential
RISE in teh number of Gurkhas in the British Army.

Ok, now someone pull it all back OT...

Adrian

********************************************

Adrian Johnson
adrian.johnson@sympatico.ca