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  #1  
Old 31-08-19, 06:21 PM
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gurkharifles gurkharifles is offline
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Default An Elephants tale - 10th Gurkha Rifles

The 10th Gurkha Rifles came into being in 1901 - although they'd inherited the number and place in the Madras line of the old 10th Madras Infantry - a regiment that could trace it's roots to 1766. As such, the 10GR could make a claim to being the "senior" Gurkha Regiment, however in July 1903 the honours of the 10th Madras "lapsed" - its not sure exactly why perhaps the commanding officer of the time did not think it appropriate or "entitled" or maybe they just wanted to signify a break with the Madras connection? However in March 1988 Defence Council Instruction No.26 announced " Her Majesty the Queen has been graciously pleased to approve the restoration of the Honours and Distinctions to 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles" - Apparently it had been an ambition of the Regiment's to see the link restored since the 1920's. The Regiment then applied to the Dress Committee to approve an arm badge which incorporated the battle honours of Amboor and Assaye - namely an Elephant ( Assaye) with a rock fort ( Amboor) on it's back. The badge was duly approved and 4 versions were made:
1) In embroidered wire, designed by the Regt and made by Hand & Co. of Soho worn by officers in No.1 dress, No. 2 Dress and also worn by the pipes and drums.
2 In cast solid silver made by the Regimental silversmith purchased by British Officers from the PRI.
3 In anodised white metal worn by all ranks
4.In embroidered cloth worn by all ranks.
First worn at the centenary parade 1 May 1990 - the ceased to be worn when the Regt was amalgamated in 1994. So insignia designed to commemorate ancient battle honours were actually only worn for 4 years. and surprisingly were not used in the Royal Gurkha Rifles insignia which were a composite of the 2GR, 6GR, 7GR and 10 GR. I've recently acquired the silver version to complete my set.
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  #2  
Old 31-08-19, 07:31 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gurkharifles View Post
The 10th Gurkha Rifles came into being in 1901 - although they'd inherited the number and place in the Madras line of the old 10th Madras Infantry - a regiment that could trace it's roots to 1766. As such, the 10GR could make a claim to being the "senior" Gurkha Regiment, however in July 1903 the honours of the 10th Madras "lapsed" - its not sure exactly why perhaps the commanding officer of the time did not think it appropriate or "entitled" or maybe they just wanted to signify a break with the Madras connection? However in March 1988 Defence Council Instruction No.26 announced " Her Majesty the Queen has been graciously pleased to approve the restoration of the Honours and Distinctions to 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles" - Apparently it had been an ambition of the Regiment's to see the link restored since the 1920's. The Regiment then applied to the Dress Committee to approve an arm badge which incorporated the battle honours of Amboor and Assaye - namely an Elephant ( Assaye) with a rock fort ( Amboor) on it's back. The badge was duly approved and 4 versions were made:
1) In embroidered wire, designed by the Regt and made by Hand & Co. of Soho worn by officers in No.1 dress, No. 2 Dress and also worn by the pipes and drums.
2 In cast solid silver made by the Regimental silversmith purchased by British Officers from the PRI.
3 In anodised white metal worn by all ranks
4.In embroidered cloth worn by all ranks.
First worn at the centenary parade 1 May 1990 - the ceased to be worn when the Regt was amalgamated in 1994. So insignia designed to commemorate ancient battle honours were actually only worn for 4 years. and surprisingly were not used in the Royal Gurkha Rifles insignia which were a composite of the 2GR, 6GR, 7GR and 10 GR. I've recently acquired the silver version to complete my set.
A very handsome lot, Tim. Thanks for showing.
Cheers, Tinto
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  #3  
Old 31-08-19, 09:02 PM
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Cloth embroidered, CB 8455-99-132-1164, patt 23961, sealed 23/8/1990.
Anodised Aluminium, CB 8455-99-978-6448, patt 23768, sealed 5/7/1990.
I also have a chromed version.

Marc
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Last edited by 54Bty; 09-02-22 at 05:33 PM.
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  #4  
Old 01-09-19, 01:23 AM
Khyber Khyber is offline
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Thanks for posting.
Sadly these days hardly any one in India knows (or cares) about the battle of Assaye.
Amboor, now spelt Ambur, is definitely more famous for its biryani!
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Old 01-09-19, 02:24 AM
Lancer 17 Lancer 17 is offline
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Hey Tim

That's a nice little group, thanks for sharing. Im pleased to say that the only Gurkha badges that I have are the anodised and the embroidered on cloth (Nos 3 & 4).

Regards

phil.
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  #6  
Old 01-09-19, 08:00 AM
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Marc - never seen a chrome version or seen a record of one - thanks for sharing. Tim
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Old 01-09-19, 02:21 PM
peter monahan peter monahan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Khyber View Post
Sadly these days hardly any one in India knows (or cares) about the battle of Assaye.
Amboor, now spelt Ambur, is definitely more famous for its biryani!
I'm afraid this is true everywhere, and the subcontinent has a few more centuries of recorded history to forget than modern Europe or, in my case, Johnny-Come-Lately Canada.
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Old 01-09-19, 08:50 PM
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Didn't the Indian government declare a lot of the battle honours carried by its Regiments to be politically incorrect, and had them struck off?

Keith
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Old 02-09-19, 03:09 AM
Khyber Khyber is offline
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Didn't the Indian government declare a lot of the battle honours carried by its Regiments to be politically incorrect, and had them struck off?

Keith

The less said the better. We live in interesting times
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  #10  
Old 02-09-19, 08:47 AM
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I think Ashok Nath in the preface of his excellent book Sowars and Sepoys made an excellent point : Speaking of the Indian Army's contribution to WW1 - "History however, unkindly blurred out Indians from the big picture of the war, partly because Britain downplayed their contribution, and even more so because independent India completely ignored them. In fact in her zeal to throw off the vestiges of colonial rule, India disowned parts of her own history and the men who shaped it"
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