Their predecessors fought in many of the conflicts of British India and the two world wars, and have proved some of Britain's toughest soldiers. The story begins in 1814 when Lt Frederick Young recruited a corps of Gurkha soldiers from the tough tribes of Nepal following the war between the army of the East India Company and the independent kingdom.

There is still a depot in Nepal to this day which acts as a recruiting centre for the Gurkhas of the British and Indian armies.

The 7th Gurkhas were founded at Quetta in NW India in 1907, recruited from the 'jats' or clans of eastern Nepal, and in 1908 a second battalion was raised.

2/7th's baptism of fire was in 1915 defending the Suez Canal against the Turks, and their first major battle honour was at Naseriya, advancing through Mesopotamia the same year. The campaign turned to disaster and while 2/7th made an epic stand at Ctesiphon the battalion went into Turkish captivity follwoing the fall of Kut in April 1916.

The reformed 2/7th was in action again the Middle East, at Ramadi in 1916 and in Palestine in 1918 where 1/7 also won a battle honour at Sharquat

Between the wars the 7th soldiered on in Afganistan and on the North West frontier and a certain Col Slim (later Field Marshal Slim of Burma) became 2/7th's Commander. In May 1941 2/7th were committed to action in Iraq and the occupation of Iran, and as part of 4th Indian Division they fought doggedly in defence of Tobruk. At the end of of the siege in June 1941 2/7th went into captivity

A new 2/7th was raised and fought in the long slog up Italy - at Cassino, Monte Grillo and the attack on the Gothic Line where they won the battle honour 'Travelto'. Before returning to India in December 1945 they were briefly in action during the Greek civil war.

1/7th and 3/7th (raised in 1940) were meanwhile on the Burma/Thai border when the Japanese struck at the end of 1941. Fighting rearguard actions all the way to the Indian frontier, they were decimated in the crossing of the Sittang river. The survivors joined together to form one unit and, with the 17th Indian Division, they held the road to Imphal through 1943, offering very determined resistance during the last Japanese offensive of March/June 1944, a rifle man winning the VC in the process. 1/7th were at the fore of the fighting during the reconquest of Burma from January 1945.

At the end of World War 2 there were 50 Gurkha bns in the Indian Army. On independence six joined the army of the new state while four regiments of two bns each became the British Brigade of Gurkhas.

For ten years from 1948 the Brigade was in Malaya, and in the 1950's raised the Gurkha Army Service Corps, later Gurkha signal, engineer and transport units.

In the 1960's the Brigade was in action in Sarawak, and in Hong Kong and Brunei where permanent garrisons have since remained.

In 1971 the Brigade was reduced to five bns, totalling 6700 men. The 7th lost its 2 Bn but began an 18 month tour of the UK including mounting Queens Guard. One Gurkha bn has been permanently in the UK since then with HQ at Church Crookham near Aldershot.

In the Falklands 1/7th landed with 5 Brigade at San Carlos and carried out minor operations around Goose Green including the clearing of Lafonia. . They were then ferried by sea to Bluff Cove and were preparing to assault Mount William when the cease-fire was ordered.