ROYAL
VISIT PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday, April 9, 1975
THE 6TH QUEEN ELIZABETH'S OWN GURKHA RIFLES
Guard Of Honour On Royal Arrival At Queen's Pier
When the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh step ashore on Hong Kong
Island at Queen's Pier on the afternoon of their arrival, the guard of
honour will be formed by the 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles..
The guard will give a royal salute, and the band will play the
national anthem. Then the guard commander will report his guard to the
Queen, who will inspect it.
The 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles were raised as the
Cuttack Legion in Orissa, India, in 1817 and spent their first 80 years
in the northeast frontier provinces of India, taking part in three Burma
wars and many expeditions against warlike tribes.
The regiment remained loyal during the Indian Mutiny, and was
included in the new Indian Army formed in 1861.
A second battalion was raised in 1904 and both battalions were
deployed on the northwest frontier of India, where they were to seo much
service during the next 40 years.
During World War I, three battalions of the regiment served in
India, the Middle East, Gallipoli, Greece, Turkey and Persia. In World
War II, four battalions served in North Africa, Italy, India and Burma,
and two members of the regiment won the Victoria Cross in Burma.
In 1948, the regiment was transferred to the British Army and
both battalions served in Malaya for most of the 11-year emergency which
began that year.
The regiment