6th Queen Elizabeths Own Gurkha Rifles Cap Badge

The regiment was initially raised in 1817 as the Cuttack Legion; this was a unit of Indian natives from the Orissa area, before moving to Northern Bengal in 1823 as the Rungpoor Light Infantry. As time continued, the regiment began recruiting Nepalese Gurkhas into its ranks – initially two companies of Gurkhas were formed, but, over time, more and more were recruited until it eventually became a pure Gurkha regiment, being numbered as the 42nd Regiment of Goorkha Light Infantry in 1886. During the period before the First World War, the regiment was primarily involved in patrolling the north-east border of India; the regiment gained only a single battle honour up to 1914. In 1903, the regiment was also renumbered as the 6th Gurkha Rifles.