A NEW era dawned in the history of the world-renowned Gurkas on Friday when a new squadron was born.

Hullavington's 94 Supply Squadron was retitled the 94 Supply Squadron Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment in recognition of more than 80 Gurkas serving at the base.

The Gurkhas have taken over the manning of the squadron and the parade officially transferred it from a British to a Gurkha squadron.

British soldiers in the squadron had a week to perfect Gurkha drills for the parade, which saw 30 new Gurkha recruits swear allegiance to the Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment.

The retitling of the squadron has made the barracks one of the most cosmopolitan in the Army, with soldiers from Fiji, New Zealand and Canada serving there on exchange.

The food is similarly exotic and the Nepalese chefs added curry prepared to recipes from their homeland to the dinner that followed Friday's parade.

The parade was overseen by Major General Philip Trousdell, colonel of the regiment. He said: "Having done 20 months as commandant at Sandhurst, I know what a good parade looks like and this was a good parade."