Added on 29/06/2010The very name "Gurkha Field Force" tends to evoke thoughts of India, the Raj and the North West Frontier. However the truth is that the Gurkha Field Force was only formed in December 1976.
It was created as a result of British Army restructuring, by the amalgamation of the Sek Kong based 48 Gurkha Infantry Brigade and the Kowloon based 51 Infantry Brigade. In 1980 it comprised nearly 8,000 men, and with 7,000 dependants and 1,400 civilian employees was the main component of the British Combined Services presence in the Far East. It had a truly international flavour with over 6,000 Gurkhas, 1,000 Hong Kong Chinese and about 1,000 British troops.
In 1980 the Field Force comprised nine major and thirteen minor units. These included 1st Battalion The Queens Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons), 1st Battalion, 2nd King Edward VIIs Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles), 6th Queen Elizabeths Own Gurkha Rifles, 7th Duke of Edinburghs Own Gurkha Rifles, 10th Princess Marys Own Gurkha Rifles, The Queens Gurkha Engineers, The Queens Gurkha Signals, The Gurkha Transport Regiment and the Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers).
The Field Forces major task was anti-illegal immigration operations.
The Field Force was renamed 48 Gurkha Infantry Brigade in 1986, reverting to its old title.
