Following the

German invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week afte ...

, the

Kingdom of Nepal The Kingdom of Nepal ( ne, नेपाल अधिराज्य), also known as the Gorkha Empire ( ne, गोरखा अधिराज्य) or Asal Hindustan ( ne, असल हिन्दुस्तान)(), was a Hindu king ...

declared war on Germany on September 4, 1939. Once Japan entered the conflict, sixteen battalions of the Royal Nepalese Army fought on the Burmese front. In addition to military support, Nepal contributed guns, equipment as well as hundreds of thousands of pounds of tea, sugar and raw materials such as timber to the Allied war effort. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, there was an internal treaty between Nepal and

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

about the mobilization of Nepalese soldiers. In addition to Royal Nepal Army's troops, Nepalese fought in the British

Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Go ...

units and were engaged in combat all over the world. Gurkha troops were part of the Allied occupation force in Japan. The Nepali units that took part were Sri Nath, Kalibox, Surya Dal, Naya Gorakh, Barda Bahadur, Kali Bahadur, Mahindra Dal, Second Rifle, Bhairung, Jabbar Jung, Shumsher Dal, Sher, Devi Dutta, Bhairab Nath, Jagannath and Purano Gorakh Battalions. Aside from that, there were many high-ranking Nepalese in the joint Army HQ. Commander-in–Chief

Kiran Shamsher Rana Commander in Chief Kiran Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana (1916–1983) was a Nepalese army officer. He served as the Royal Nepalese Army's Commander-in-Chief from 1951–1956 and as the Nepalese ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1973–1977. Over ...

and Field Marshal Nir Shumsher Rana were liaison officers from the Royal Nepalese Army. 5th Gurkha Rifles, Japan 1946

When Japan went to war with the United Kingdom in December 1941, the British presence was threatened in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

. Britain deployed its troops in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to the

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

front. Nepalese battalions – Mahindra Dal, Sher, Kali Bahadur and Jagannath - were also deployed. These Nepalese battalions fought under the Allied Command. The Jagannath Battalion took part as engineers in order to construct tracks, bridges, water points, etc. Nepalese troops fought with distinction in the British 14th Army under Lieutenant General

William Slim William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and helped force the eventual Japanese retreat. Finally, following the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...

, Japan surrendered. Most Nepalese troops were withdrawn to

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

in October 1945. A grand victory parade was held on 28 October 1945 where many Nepalese soldiers, officers and associated British officers were honored for their appreciable performances. In the Victory Parade at

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1946, the Royal Nepalese Army was led by the Commanding Officer Sir

Baber Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana Sir Baber Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana, GCVO, GBE, KCSI, KCIE (27 January 1888 – 12 May 1960) was a member of the Rana dynasty who served as the Minister of Defence of Nepal in 1951. A prominent member of the Rana oligarchy, he fought valiant ...

. His youngest son, Major-General Subikhyat-Tri-Shakti-Patta, Prasidha-Prabala-Gorkha-Dakshina-Bahu Sir Brahma Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, KCIE fought in the war and was decorated with Assam-Burma Medal (1945), British 39/45 & Burma stars, Defence and War medals (1945).

References

External links

History of Nepalese Army
at the official website of the Nepalese Army. {{WWII history by nation

Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in World War II 20th century in Nepal World War II national military histories Asia in World War II 1939 in Nepal

References

Further reading

External links