World War II saw active participation of the Garhwalis, the 1st and 4th Battalions in Burma, the 2nd and 5th Battalions seeing action in Malaya. The 2nd Battalion was the Garrison Battalion at Kuantan in the Malay Peninsula in 1940. The only infantry battalion in Kuantan, it was put to a myriad of tasks in a widely dispersed area. Just before the Japanese offensive, it had been milked twice to assist forming new battalions. When the Japanese struck, the battalion fought gallantly, inflicting heavy casualties. The battlion was awarded Battle Honour ‘Kuantan’ and Theatre Honour ‘Malaya 1941-42’. The 2nd Battalion ceased to exist after the Malayan Campaign due to heavy casualties – the remnants captured by the Japanese. The newly raised 5th Battalion was ordered overseas in Dec 1941 while still raw and under-equipped. It sailed for the Middle East, however the destination was changed after it embarked to Singapore. The battalion fought some notable actions at Muar, Johor and then the long, bitter rearguard action to Singapore. The 7th Battalion was raised essentially as a replacement for these two battalions (later converted to a training role). It was only after the War in 1946 that the 2nd Battalion was re-raised. The 5th had to wait till 1962 for its re-raising.