# Gorkhali Ayo!



## daftandbarmy (13 Dec 2006)

The Ghurkas are coming...

http://stickgrappler.tripod.com/bando/c16.html


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## Kirkhill (13 Dec 2006)

Thanks for that Daft.

Really interesting stuff on the culture.


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## foresterab (18 Dec 2006)

Crazy folks...but some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. 

Thanks for that article...I rarely find things dealing with the events around the Far East Theater in World War II.


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## Kat Stevens (18 Dec 2006)

A great read.  My Dad's older brother served in Indian 17th Infantry Division from 1942 to VJ day (Black Cats!) including Meiktila and Pyawbwe.  He had a great affection and respect for the Gurkhas he served with til the day he died.  A somewhat mangled quote from him: "  We used to think Jap was an unstoppable little bleeder... then we saw what the Gurkhas could do to em with a big knife and a bigger smile."  

  I'v shamelessly plugged this book before, but I'll gladly do it again:  "Sheltered Safe Out There" by George MacDonald Fraser is a real grunts eye view of the Burma Campaign.  Fascinating, and hilarious in parts.  If you can find it, buy it, you won't be sorry.


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## Kirkhill (18 Dec 2006)

The Gurkhas made them bleed unstoppably?


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## Kat Stevens (18 Dec 2006)

Pretty much....


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## foresterab (18 Dec 2006)

I'll have to go home and check the references but regarding Nepal and World War II.

Apparently after war broke out the King of Nepal mobilized large numbers of men....and then waited several months for a place to deploy them.  When the british and indian army Gurkha regiments expanded they then went to the King and asked for permission to recruit more soldiers...and were flabergasted to be offered something like 100,000 men if the British and Indian governments would equip them.

Not sure of the total contribution from this tiny country but did hear they had even higher participation rates than Canada.  Again this may or not be true as many troops served in Indian Army regiments as well and formal Gurkha regiments.

One of my favorite stories is the interview with a RGR (Royal Gurkha Regiment) soldier from the British Army watching Canadian soldiers training on the hills in Afganistan.  After a while the Canadians gathered quite a crowd of the RGR troops who spent their time laughing at the Canadians and thier poor mountain techniques (by their standards) and eventually a few of the Gurkha troops went and gave a demonstration as to how it should be done by their standards.   Afterwards they were talking with the Canadians and asked what was so funny....their reply "We like the Canadians....they're not very good on the mountains but they're tall and make much better vehicle turret gunners than we do".  

Also check out the post sticked at the topof the Military History page....A soldiers story.  Some comments about Gurkha troops in Italy there and their work...stories I've heard from other veterns who served there.


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## daftandbarmy (18 Dec 2006)

Kirkhill said:
			
		

> The Gurkhas made them bleed unstoppably?



Suggestion: For 'Bleeders' insert 'chaps' or 'buggers' or ba****ds (or f**kers) and the phrase makes more sense to a Canadian.

The book is 'Quartered Safe out Here' by George McDonald Fraser. I also recommend the following books by John Masters "Bugles and a Tiger" and "The Road Past Mandalay". Of course, Field Marshal Slim's masterpiece, "Deafeat into Victory" is also a classic that talks about the Gurks... he being a Gurkha regimental officer.

I had Gurkha troops under command for awhile in the UK and worked with them at Sandhurst and Warminster. Their performance was limited in some ways, but they are definitely in their element in Afghanistan and should do really well.


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## Kat Stevens (18 Dec 2006)

daftandbarmy said:
			
		

> Suggestion: For 'Bleeders' insert 'chaps' or 'buggers' or ba****ds (or f**kers) and the phrase makes more sense to a Canadian.
> 
> The book is 'Quartered Safe out Here' by George McDonald Fraser. I also recommend the following books by John Masters "Bugles and a Tiger" and "The Road Past Mandalay". Of course, Field Marshal Slim's masterpiece, "Deafeat into Victory" is also a classic that talks about the Gurks... he being a Gurkha regimental officer.
> 
> I had Gurkha troops under command for awhile in the UK and worked with them at Sandhurst and Warminster. Their performance was limited in some ways, but they are definitely in their element in Afghanistan and should do really well.



 I stand corrected, been a while since I've seen it, cheers.


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## Kirkhill (18 Dec 2006)

One of my favourite lines from "Quartered Safe Out Here" is the mournful cry of "We're alllll going to diiiiieeee" every time something new comes up.  ;D

Daftandbarmy - I have been trying to find one of John Major's books that I read a long while ago and seem to have misplaced.  It was about his time as a Brigade Major (IIRC) with one of Slim's "regular" infantry brigades that went in to replace the Chindits.  I can't remember the title though.   He had some interesting observations about the Chindits, their over-specialization, their over-use (using them to the point they couldn't be reconstituted) and the lack of adequate logistics for the force.

Is that one of the books that you recommended because if it is I don't recognize the title?


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## daftandbarmy (18 Dec 2006)

Ah yes... that would be a guy named Nixon. I like the part about him doing a little CQB with a 10lb tin of jam on his shoulder...

forestab just PM'd me and I sent him a list of good books. Masters is my favourite.

You're looking for 'Bugles and a Tiger' about his experiences as a Gurkha officer pre-war. Very good description about how to fight a war on the 'frontier', picketing the heights etc. All good drills that survived into the 80s to be used in NI on the border in various ways.

Here's a good quote from the book:

"A British battleship, lights out, a bristle with fourteen-inch guns, moved slowly up the heavily defended Suez Canal early in 1915.  The officer on watch heard a small voice to be saying, "Halt! Who-go-dah?" The officer did not reply.   The voice then said, 'Halt-or-I-fire!' the battleship switched on a search light, which illuminated one Gurkha Rifleman standing on the bank.   His rifle was pointed at the side of the battleship.   The battleship stopped; its Captain sent an urgent message for help; and the strategic movements of the Royal Navy stood still while an Officer of Gurkhas was found to tell the sentry that the battleship could pass.   At last the Gurkha shouted, "Pass-friend-all's-well," and lowered his rifle.   The battleship glided on, with a thousand British sailors cheering and laughing".


The other excellent book by Masters is 'The Road Past Mandalay' about his experiences with the Chindits etc during WW2. 
Here's an article about the book:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,895675,00.html?promoid=googlep

I also recommend "Defeat into Victory" by that most famous of Gurkha regiment officers, Field Marshal Bill Slim.

Some other sites to peruse at your leisure:
http://www.amazon.com/Gurkhas-Byron-Farwell/dp/039330714X
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Masters


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## Kirkhill (18 Dec 2006)

Thanks daft.... I must have read both books and melded the two together.

By the way, wrt Nixon and the tin of jam......priorities.


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