153 Gurkha Parachute Battalion

The 153 Gurkha Parachute Battalion formed in Delhi on October 29, 1941 and was part of the newly created 50th (Indian) Parachute Brigade.

153 Gurkha Parachute Battalion was just one of the three new Battalions in the Brigade. It was to be the British Army’s first airborne unit of Gurkhas. It recruited exclusively from the warrior clans of Nepal, although volunteers mostly arrived from the ten existing Gurkha regiments which were already under the control of the British Army. By agreement with the Maharajah of Nepal all the senior officers were actually required to be British (although Gurkhas could become Viceroy's Commissioned Officers). This was because there were fears one particular Gurkha clan could otherwise be promoted over the others, causing friction in the battalion. Since all the Gurkhas were considered equal to one another, the Battalion’s medical officer stated there was “an extremely strong composite feeling amongst all ranks” of the Battalion.

The new Gurkha Parachute Battalion could not have arrived at a better time. There were numerous seasoned Gurkhas available who had already served in the British Army for five or six years. Moreover, after two years of war without seeing any action, the Gurkhas were becoming restless. Parachuting seemed the obvious answer to keep the men sharp and prepare them for the looming entry of Japan into the conflict, who were not officially at war with the Allies until December.

Due to the lack of aircraft, the Gurkhas were trained to drop deep behind enemy lines before making a getaway on foot over hundreds of miles. There was a large amount of ground training, including endurance marches of up to 50 miles. The Gurkhas were taken around waterworks and power stations in Delhi to be taught how to sabotage the enemy’s power and infrastructure, and were originally seen as a disruption force. In the early days Gurkhas would also jump out of hired lorries to simulate a real drop.  

To begin with, 153 Battalion only took part in small-scale operations. The first was Operation Puddle, which involved just seven Gurkhas and four Brits led by Captain Jimmy Roberts, and took place in July 1942. This was a response to the invasion of Burma by Japan in December 1941. Little was known about the extent of Japanese penetration into the north of the country as a forested mountain range blocked intelligence gathering efforts from the Indian side. The Gurkhas were to fly over and drop from a Lockheed Lodestar over Myitkyina in Burma, to gather intelligence on airstrips and airfields and find out how far north the Japanese had progressed. After dropping, they had to march 150 miles to reach and reoccupy the recently abandoned Fort Hertz. Hertz was envisioned by the allies as a crucial staging post for aircraft flying along the route of the Hump (the supply line between India and China). 

Reaching Dinjan airfield in Assam on June 24, the Gurkhas were delayed by bad weather for over a week; the monsoon season had already begun. They eventually took off at 1615 hours on July 3. After contact was lost with the paratroopers in the remote jungles of Burma, Major Hopkinson from the 152 Battalion was sent on a flight over Fort Hertz on August 12. He was relieved to see that the Gurkhas had captured the Fort, although they were skeletal in appearance and in desperate need of food. Hopkinson refuelled and returned with food promptly. The next day, more Gurkhas dropped on the Fort as part of Operation Firepump and helped repair its walls. After marching for days through the jungle without food, three Gurkhas received the Indian Distinguished Service Medal for their efforts. A more complete account of the Operation can be found on the page of Captain Roberts, who was awarded the Military Cross. 

In September 1943, Boy Browning visited the Battalion with designs to reform it into a new Division. During his visit, the Hindu festival of Dussehra was approaching, and the 153rd Battalion gave a performance of Nepalese dances. Browning himself joined in by performing some Cossack dancing. 

Between 19-24 March 1944, the 153 Battalion played a role in the epic defensive battle of Sangshak when the 50th (Indian) Parachute Brigade was overrun but blunted the Japanese offensive against Imphal and Kohima. In March 1945 the Battalion was re-designated the 2nd Battalion Indian Parachute Regiment.

Commanding Officers:

1941-2        Lt Col FJ Loftus-Tottenham
1942-5        Lt Col HRE Willis

Compiled with information from:

India's Paratroopers, A History of the Parachute Regiment of India (London, 1975), K.C. Praval 

Airborne Assault Archive (Boxes 3 H4 20.1.1, 3 H4 20.1.2 and 3 H4 20.1.3)

With Pegasus in India - the Story of 153 Gurkha Parachute Battalion, Major Eric Neild

Article written by Alex Walker