Royal Gurkha Rifles The Royal Gurkha Rifles ( RGR ) is a rifle regiment of the British Army , forming part of the Brigade of Gurkhas . Unlike other regiments in the British army , soldiers are recruited from Nepal , which is a nation independent of the United Kingdom and not a member of the Commonwealth . The regiment is now the sole Gurkha regiment of the British Army since the amalgamation of the four separate Gurkha regiments in 1994 : The Gurkhas in general and the direct predecessors of the Royal Gurkha Rifles in particular are considered by some to be among the finest infantrymen in the world , as is evidenced by the high regard they are held in for both their fighting skill , and their smartness of turnout on parade . Their standard of drill is considered to be on a par with that of the Foot Guards and in July 1997 the regiment mounted the guard at Buckingham Palace . In December 1995 , Lieutenant - Colonel Bijaykumar Rawat became the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion , the first Nepalese to become a battalion commander in the RGR . He oversaw the departure of the battalion from Hong Kong just before that city ' s transfer to Chinese control , and the battalion ' s relocation to Church Crookham , Hampshire in 1996 . Their motto is : " Better to die than live a coward " . Organization . The two battalions of the RGR are formed as light role infantry ; they are not equipped with either armoured or wheeled vehicles . One battalion is based at Shorncliffe , near Folkestone in Kent as part of 52 Infantry Brigade , and is available for deployment to most areas in Europe and Africa . The other is based at the British garrison in Brunei as part of Britain ' s commitment to maintaining a military presence in SE Asia . The two battalions rotate in each role , usually for three years at a time . As part of the restructuring of the infantry , the UK - based battalion was transferred from 2 Infantry Brigade to 52 Infantry Brigade , to be given a more mainstream role . Together with the Royal Irish Regiment and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders ( 5 SCOTS ) , the UK based RGR battalion will rotate as part of 16 Air Assault Brigade — it will spend five years with this formation , followed by two years as a light infantry battalion with 52 Brigade . 2RGR will take on this role for the first time in 2010 . The proximity to Afghanistan has meant that the Brunei based battalion has been called upon to deploy as part of the British force . Twice during its most recent Brunei posting the 2nd Battalion was deployed as the Afghanistan Roulement Infantry Battalion , while the 1st Battalion deployed as part of 52 Infantry Brigade in late 2007 . During this tour , Cornet HRH Prince Henry of Wales was attached for a period to the 1RGR battlegroup as a Forward Air Controller . Under Army 2020 , the battalions will be light role battalions , rotating between Brunei and the UK , with their higher unit as 11th Infantry Brigade . Notable soldiers . Corporal Dip Prasad Pun of 1st Battalion ( 1RGR ) was awarded Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for an act of bravery during the War in Afghanistan in 2010 . He alone defended his outpost against a force of 12 – 30 Taliban fighters . He fired more than 400 rounds , 17 grenades , and one mine . He even resorted to fighting with his machine gun tripod after his ammunition had run out . Battle honours . The following battle honours are a representation of the total honours awarded to the four regiments which formed The Royal Gurkha Rifles :