Posted on 08/29/2010 7:54:36 PM PDT by James C. Bennett
LONDON: The world-famous Gurkha Regiment, part of the British army for almost 200 years, may be among those axed unless the ministry of defence's demands for more money to fund the replacement of Trident nuclear missile submarines are answered.
Last night, hopes for extra funding were fading as chief secretary to the treasury Danny Alexander rejected demands for extra money from Tory defence secretary Liam Fox and insisted the £20 billion cost of replacing Trident had to be met fully by the MoD, The Observer reported.
Quoting an expert, the report said the increasing costs of running the regiment following actress Joanna Lumley's high-profile campaign last year to improve their rights, added to the sense that the "writing is on the wall" for the Brigade of Gurkhas, which has 3,640 members.
The Gurkhas have been an integral part of the army since 1815, when the British East India Company signed a peace deal allowing it to recruit Nepalese soldiers.
Can we take them???
Seriously! Those guys are HardCore......
I wish we could take them. Maybe if they start crossing the Rio Grande at night illegally...then the Obamanoids could be talked into it.
That’s what I’m wondering.
I wish we could take them. Maybe if they start crossing the Rio Grande at night illegally...then the Obamanoids could be talked into it.
Better yet, put them down on our side of the border.
That guy does’t look Gurkha.
But he looks like he is from Nepal.
A huge mistake on the part of the peanut counters,
and a terrible injustice to the men and the regiment.
Photo source:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/02/1994514.htm
Caption:
A British Army Gurkha in Afghanistan
See #10.
OK. Zoomed in closer and can see it. But he’s not a particularly typical-looking Gurkha.
Legends of Gurkha Bravery
Gurkhas’ Reputation for Bravery Precedes Them
It was a series of bloody conflicts fought in the great hill ranges of northeastern India in the early 19th century that saw big battle losses and grudging admiration on both sides for their respective foes.
Since 1812, the British East India Company, rapidly gaining ground across the subcontinent and eager to tame the tribes along the Himalayan foothills, had fought a series of battles against the fierce Nepali tribes.
But in 1816, the Nepali defense of the hill fortress of Kalunga in the Himalayan foothills so impressed the British that in the terms of a peace treaty signed with Nepali King Prithvi Narayan Shah, the British shrewdly included a clause under which the Gurkhas could serve in the East India Company’s army.
That was the start of a long, illustrious military alliance between the British and the Gurkhas, a term loosely used to describe men of Nepal who serve as soldiers in the armies of Nepal, India or Britain.
Drawn mostly from the Magar, Gurung, Rai, Limbu and Sunwar hill tribes — tribes the British considered fit fighters — the term “Gurkha” is an Anglicization of the Gorkha district, the birthplace of King Prithvi Narayan Shah, who is considered the father of modern Nepal.
Ayo Gurkhali!
With their battle cry “Ayo Gurkhali!” — “Here come the Gurkhas!” — the hardy Nepali hillsmen gained such a reputation as fighters that stories of enemies fleeing their positions upon hearing rumors of their advance abound.
During the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857, when local sepoys revolted against their British officers, a rumor running through the northern Indian town of Simla that the Gurkhas had joined the sepoys so frightened the resident British that they panicked and fled the town, some men even abandoning their wives and children.
But the Gurkhas stayed loyal to the British and did not join the mutinying sepoys, passing their first test of loyalty.
Many years later, after Argentina’s surrender to Britain in the 1982 Falklands War, Argentine troops told reporters that rumors of the Gurkhas slitting the throats of 40 Argentine soldiers in single strokes and of Gurkhas jumping into enemy foxholes with live grenades gave them the jitters and seriously shattered their morale.
It’s hard to tell where the legends of Gurkha ferocity spring from and how much of it is true. Many of their deeds have been recorded in official military dispatches, but many more have been gleaned from diaries of British officers through the centuries, and historians argue that many of these entries may have been liberally embellished.
Blood Thirst of the Blade
Certainly the most pervasive myth of Gurkha ferocity fans from their famed wielding of the kukri, or the curved Himalayan knife.
Legend has it that once a Gurkha unsheathes his kukri, he must draw blood with it. When a Gurkha unsheathes his weapon in a noncombative situation, he must then nick himself to satisfy the “blood thirst” of the blade.
With a motto that says, “Kaphar hunnu bhanda marnu ramro” — “Better dead than live like a coward” — Gurkhas are known to be brutal in battle, but they can also be charming and delightfully childish in peace.
During their World War I operations in the Arabian Peninsula, British officers recorded the Gurkhas’ delight when they encountered the sea and camels for the first time.
When a Mule Kicks a Gurkha
Stories of the toughness of Gurkha skulls also do the rounds, with one story going so far as to claim that if a mule kicks a Gurkha’s head, the Gurkha may suffer a headache, but the mule will certainly go lame.
But among all the legends surrounding the Gurkhas, the ones that have the greatest ring of truth are stories of the Nepali fighters’ discipline and literal performance of orders from military superiors.
One particular diary entry talks about how an Indian army doctor once went up to a British officer and told him that a wounded Gurkha would surely die unless he displayed some “will to live.”
The officer, the story goes, stormed into the hospital room and barked the order: “Live!” The wounded Gurkha obeyed.
Can I still get these?
Hank
My father trained with them and saw them in Indonesia. He flat out said that they were some of the best soldiers he ever saw. Of course they weren't Marines but ....hahahaha.
"Women set to join the Gurkhas"
Female Maoist rebels desperate to be recruited to the British Army congregate at training"
"Colonel Jeremy Ellis, the British defence attache in Nepal and commander of the Brigade of Gurkhas Nepal, confirmed that women will soon be alongside men, drawing the Gurkhas' famous kukris."
"Beauticians, hotel receptionists and waitresses have ditched their jobs and flocked to the resort town of Pokhara to enrol in privately run, high-altitude fitness training programmes, designed to prepare recruits for the tough army entrance exams due next month. More than 80 training schools have sprung up to cater for the demand.
Many of the girls sport pink laces on their running shoes, brightly coloured hair ribbons and gaudy nail varnish, but insist it is no reflection on their suitability for a regiment renowned for its toughness.
"We shouldn't be underestimated because we are women and we want to look beautiful while we train," said 17-year-old Sushma Lama."
Women training for assessment to become the first female Gurkhas 
It’s probably out of the question, though. A segregated US Army unit would have the PC types up in total hysterics.
And, if the US Army tried to make them over into a US unit, they wouldn’t be the special unit they are now.
Pity, though. It would be total kick-A$$.
Bump!
Ohhhhh, now that IS an idea. Can we .... please.
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