On the 1st of March 2023, a parade was held at Gamecock Barracks, Bramcote in Warwickshire for the 42 Queen’s Gurkha Signals (QG SIGNALS) trainees from recruit intake 2022 (RI22) attested into the Queen’s Gurkha Signals. QG SIGNALS officers and soldiers from across the Corps were on parade watched by their respecting commanding officers, invited guests and families at Bramcote in Warwickshire. At the same event two new QG SIGNALS soldiers were formally commissioned into the Queen’s Gurkha Signals.
Brigadier M J Fayers, Colonel of the Regiment flanked by Lieutenant Colonel S M Smith Commander QG SIGNALS and Major Deepak Rai MVO, Gurkha Major QG SIGNALS as the inspecting officers for the parade. The traditional annual event was attended by QG SIGNALS officers and soldiers serving in various units of the Corps and watched by their respective Commanding Officers, invited guests and proud families.
This marked the end of a very long journey for the trainees; which started almost more than a year in Pokhara, Nepal where each year typically over 20,000 applicants compete for just a few hundred posts. All 42 soldiers completed the 39-week basic Infantry Training at Catterick in Yorkshire before they joined QG SIGNALS. The two officers went through the Army Officer Selection Board, Senior Solider Entry AOSB (SSE) process and successfully commissioned in 2021.
Lieutenant Colonel S M Smith, Commander QG SIGNALS said, ‘It was another fantastic parade and the sense of pride amongst all the soldiers was really obvious. The QG SIGNALS provide a huge contribution to the success of the Royal Corps of Signals and the Brigade of Gurkhas and we welcome our new soldiers and officers to the paltan.’
Major Deepak Rai, MVO Gurkha Major, QG SIGNALS said, “It was an excellent parade, definitely a historic day for QG SIGNALS, the Corps and Brigade of Gurkhas”.
