THE END OF BRITISH RULE IN INDIA
1st Battalion
When the War ended the Battalion remained in Burma based at Meiktila and was employed chasing dacoits (bandits) until 1947 when it moved south to Mingaladon, near Rangoon.
2nd Battalion
The 2nd Battalion, after a short tour of duty at Abbottabad, moved to Secunderabad in May 1946 where it rejoined 43 Gurkha Lorried Brigade. In February 1947 it moved to Delhi where Viceroy Guard duties were mixed with Internal Security operations.
In August 1947 the British handed over power to the Indian Government and the Battalion played a prominent part in the ceremonies. The Adjutant, Capt R C Neath, who was later to command the Battalion, obtained the last Union Jack to fly over the historic Red Fort in Delhi. This flag now is now held by the Gurkha Museum in Winchester, UK.
3rd Battalion
After a period of railway protective duties at Deolali the Battalion moved to Madras to carry out Internal Security duties. It was decided not to transfer the Battalion to the British Army but to disband it. The disbandment order was however cancelled and in December 1947 the old 3rd Battalion ceased to form part of the Regiment and became the 5th Battalion of the 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force).
4th Battalion
On its return from Burma the Battalion was stationed at Allahabad before moving to Abbottabad in January 1947. It was disbanded after a final parade in January 1947.
The Regimental Centre
In 1946 it was decided that all Gurkha Regimental Centres were to be centralised and in early August 1947 the 6th Gurkha Rifles Regimental Centre moved to Dehra Dun. In February 1948 it moved to Ranchi where the Centres of the 2nd, 7th and 10th Gurkha Rifles were also concentrated. Here large numbers of recruits were received and partially equipped before embarkation for Malaya.
The British Army
The end of British rule in India heralded the partition of the Sub-Continent and the division of the old Indian Army between the new states of India and Pakistan. The bulk of the Gurkha Brigade was transferred to the new Indian Army but it was announced that the 2nd, 6th, 7th and 10th Gurkha Rifles were to be transferred to the British Army with two battalions each. Men of these battalions were given every inducement by the new Indian Government to stay in India and many opted to do so. Some men from the other Gurkha regiments remaining in India were also allowed to transfer to the four regiments destined for the British Army.
Over the next months the last of the non-regular British Officers left the Regiment. Their places were taken by regulars from the Gurkha regiments destined to remain in India and one or two from Indian regiments. No fewer than ten fittingly came from the 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force), the Regiment which had also had its home in Abbottabad and which had so often fought alongside the 6th Gurkha Rifles on the North West Frontier and on the battlefields from Gallipoli to Burma.
The 1st Battalion arrived in Malaya from Burma in January 1948 and the 2nd Battalion followed from India a few weeks later. Thus ended the history of the Regiment in the service of British India. This service totalled one hundred and thirty-one years.