Subedar Kishen Singh, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles, 1944 (c)

Photograph, World War Two, Far East, 1944 (c).

A subedar is the equivalent of a captain in the British Army. Subedars generally commanded platoons. During the Second World War (1939-1945) over 100,000 Gurkhas served in 40 battalions in battles in the Western Desert, Italy, Greece, Malaya, Singapore, India and Burma.