Ghurkas and what sets them apart.
Discussion
DocJock said:
Suffice to say, it was a privilege to serve alongside these men.
Aye aye to that.Flew many of them in and out of various s
t holes in Afghanistan and, although they are monumentally polite and modest, when they're "working" there's a certain.....viciousness (?) in their eyes, but like everything else about them it seems so very well self-controlled.Crossflow Kid said:
Aye aye to that.
Flew many of them in and out of various st holes in Afghanistan and, although they are monumentally polite and modest, when they're "working" there's a certain.....viciousness (?) in their eyes, but like everything else about them it seems so very well self-controlled.
And despite this unswerving loyalty to this Country our Gov tried to stiff them.Has that all been resolved now?. Flew many of them in and out of various s
t holes in Afghanistan and, although they are monumentally polite and modest, when they're "working" there's a certain.....viciousness (?) in their eyes, but like everything else about them it seems so very well self-controlled.
Awesome blokes! I flew a Puma into a Gurkha barracks and their OC told a junior soldier to wait with a fire extinguisher until we landed and took off again. We were about 4hrs late but couldn't tell them as we had no comms.....when we landed there was this immaculately turned out soldier grinning away next to his crappy little fire extinguisher. He'd obviously been there the whole time and I can promise you no British soldier would have done the same 
ISTR their English was usually rubbish, the answer to every question being a massive grin and 'yes sir!' but they are honest people and fabulous soldiers.....a total asset imo.
I remember they don't fly well though, I once took 24 Gurkhas from Banja Luka to Sarajevo and there were so many sick bags piling up in the back of the aircraft the crewman had to throw them off the back of the ramp while we were flying along
ISTR their English was usually rubbish, the answer to every question being a massive grin and 'yes sir!' but they are honest people and fabulous soldiers.....a total asset imo.
I remember they don't fly well though, I once took 24 Gurkhas from Banja Luka to Sarajevo and there were so many sick bags piling up in the back of the aircraft the crewman had to throw them off the back of the ramp while we were flying along
Edited by Siko on Wednesday 29th April 07:10
My Grandfather served was an officer with them in the 6th Rifles, he was killed in the Malay Crisis and earned two MCs with the 6th.
My Grandma spent a lot of time helping them as a pen pal helping 6th Ghurkas read and write as well as learn english and before i started work i was lucky enough to spend a fair while meeting them and eating curry that should not be given to small children.
I now work in Security, and live near Aldershot so it's fair to say I have a large number of Ghurka colleagues. What is most surprising is how many from the 6th know who my Granfather was and have remembered my Grandmaspeakingattempting to speak to them in pidgeon nepalese over the years.
Great gents, polite, neatly turned out, hard working and more than worth citizenship IMHO.
Today i have Gaj and Chandra at work, Gaj's family have all survived but have lost every house, Chandra is waiting on his brother to make contact but the house he built his Mother is still standing.
My Grandma spent a lot of time helping them as a pen pal helping 6th Ghurkas read and write as well as learn english and before i started work i was lucky enough to spend a fair while meeting them and eating curry that should not be given to small children.
I now work in Security, and live near Aldershot so it's fair to say I have a large number of Ghurka colleagues. What is most surprising is how many from the 6th know who my Granfather was and have remembered my Grandma
Great gents, polite, neatly turned out, hard working and more than worth citizenship IMHO.
Today i have Gaj and Chandra at work, Gaj's family have all survived but have lost every house, Chandra is waiting on his brother to make contact but the house he built his Mother is still standing.
neenaw said:
their amazing ability to drink whisky like it was water
I have experienced this first hand, i now no longer drink whiskey, EVER!.Tango13 said:
I heard one tale about the Ghukas on D-Day discovering four German soldiers sleeping in a barn, two woke up to discover their comrades had been decapitated in the night 
The Gurkhas didn't fight in Normandy - Italy and Greece was the closest they got.I suspect the story is bar talk.
The reputation they have in the Far East borders on Mythical .
One story I heard was of a mass brawl involving Chinese and Malay gangs in a bar on the edge of a British forces camp .
The forces police were reluctant to get invoved as locals were not subject to their authority and the local police were also reluctant as the bar was too close to the camp , what to do ?
Four Gurkhas arrived in a landrover , two entered the front two entered the rear , Kukris were drawn and the bar was empty thirty seconds later .
Could be total bunkum but also totally believable .
Mum and dad loved these people and always went out of their way to chat to them .
One story I heard was of a mass brawl involving Chinese and Malay gangs in a bar on the edge of a British forces camp .
The forces police were reluctant to get invoved as locals were not subject to their authority and the local police were also reluctant as the bar was too close to the camp , what to do ?
Four Gurkhas arrived in a landrover , two entered the front two entered the rear , Kukris were drawn and the bar was empty thirty seconds later .
Could be total bunkum but also totally believable .
Mum and dad loved these people and always went out of their way to chat to them .
Shortbloke said:
Any soldier that says he is not afraid of death is either lying or hes a Gurkha.... Jaya Mahakali, Ayo Gorkhali (praise the goddess Khali...here come the Gurkhas) I.E BE WORRIED. Mount William. Falklands. 82. The Argies heard that war cry and ran away. The Gurkhas were gutted. Nicest blokes you could ever meet. Ferocious in battle. Proper honourable blokes. Glad they are on our side
That is very true they did run away.IvanSTi said:
Use him as a human shield or something?
A priest is a tool for killing fish.I used to fly fish at The RMAS
A human shield would be useless....as would a priest
if faced with an angry, smiling Gurkha 
Civpilot said:
I live in church crookham at the moment and quite often see a couple of different elderly Guys when out walking. Clearly ex Gurkha types. Just going for a slow stroll of an evening, hands clasped behind their backs, all the time in the world.
One of those would more than likely be a friend of mine.I have shared a few curries that he has made, usually with fish I caught. All eaten with our fingers of course.
He came here in the 70s married a local lass........
He's an absolute gent.
The Gurkahs are rightly highly respected, fewer than 1% will make the selection process.
If you get a chance & are that way inclined The Band of The Brigade of Gurkhas is an entertaining experience.
Most of the musicians will have had no musical experience at all, they won't have joined to become musicians either! upon concluding their basic military instruction, if selected (you, you and you) off they go to train as musicians.
Absolutely 100% dedicated to anything they put their hand to.
The pipes always get me.
Hats off to them all, especially in light of the current devestation.
http://www.gurkhabde.com/latest-news/
Many of the tales (re)told on this thread are complete bunkum, or highly embellished, but that'd be true of many a tale of daring that is more than 70 years old. The more outlandish these tales become, the more the fear of Gurkhas in the eyes of their enemies. It's an oft-told tale that, when they are tasked to guard PWs, that the captives will be told that if a Gurkha smiles at you, he's sizing you up for the pot. I'm not sure how true this is, but it creates the desired level of fear among the prisoners.
I've had the privilege of serving with a number of Gurkhas because they attend the same 'trade' courses as the rest of the Royal Engineers. Certainly when I was 'on course' at Chatham (Brompton Barracks) back when 69 Gurkha Field Squadron were based in Kitchener Barracks (just down the road), most, if not all the Gurkhas on Brompton courses would toddle off for their evening meal with the Gurkha squadron. Where are you off to Tul? "Going down sixty nine" would come the reply. It was a bit of an honour to be invited down for a meal in their cookhouse, too.
Loyalty, bravery and a strong work ethic? Absolutely, for the most part. But they are people, and there are one or two who can be a bit lazy. Either that, or they play to orders, and you sometimes need to be very specific when you brief them to a task. I never met one who wasn't anything but polite, though. Even when they were aware of some of the 'British' soldiers being rude, and sometimes downright racist about them.
As for this earlier quote...
As for competitive? If you are a parent at any local school with Gurkha/Nepalese kids on the roll, then your offspring will have to work hard to win a place on the stage at school awards night! Sport, academic subjects, community involvement, mentoring their peers? These kids make sure they're good at it all, and they should be seen as an inspiration to others. And going back to the Army, it was never a good thing to be drawn against a Gurkha team in any sporting competition. It's not that they were unbeatable, just that they never accepted that they were beaten right until the whistle, and they'd run you ragged right until the end.
What sets them apart? They are culturally different to 'us'. Some might say superior in many ways. It's said that a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, and if you forge your 'chain' from Gurkhas, it'll be a very strong chain indeed.
I've had the privilege of serving with a number of Gurkhas because they attend the same 'trade' courses as the rest of the Royal Engineers. Certainly when I was 'on course' at Chatham (Brompton Barracks) back when 69 Gurkha Field Squadron were based in Kitchener Barracks (just down the road), most, if not all the Gurkhas on Brompton courses would toddle off for their evening meal with the Gurkha squadron. Where are you off to Tul? "Going down sixty nine" would come the reply. It was a bit of an honour to be invited down for a meal in their cookhouse, too.
Loyalty, bravery and a strong work ethic? Absolutely, for the most part. But they are people, and there are one or two who can be a bit lazy. Either that, or they play to orders, and you sometimes need to be very specific when you brief them to a task. I never met one who wasn't anything but polite, though. Even when they were aware of some of the 'British' soldiers being rude, and sometimes downright racist about them.
As for this earlier quote...
The Mad Monk said:
Yes, you should ask the people who live in Fleet and Church Crookham. They are absolutely delighted that the Gurkhas have the right to live in the UK and have use of benefits such as the NHS...
...yes, there are many dissenters among the indigenous population in the Hart/Rushmoor area around Fleet and Aldershot. There isn't open hostility that I've noticed, but mutterings all the same. It is sad, but the influx of Gurkhas has had an effect on the availability of housing in the more affordable price bracket, and there certainly is a propensity for them to live together in large numbers. They have increased the burden on some local services too, especially the older generation (often the one's drawn here by Ms Lumley's campaigning) who struggle with English and arrive with pre-existing medical conditions. Again, I'm not begrudging their presence here, but if you speak to anyone in the health profession locally they'll tell you that it is a valid issue. They have some habits that seem odd to us westerners too. Wives seldom walk with their husbands, they walk a few feet behind. Large groups of traditionally dressed older women gather in parks, woodland or playing fields and sit in 'committee' for hours, and they'll see nothing odd in scrubbing up their front garden and planting it to vegetables. These are simply observations, not criticisms, mind, and absolutely none of these 'odd' habits effects the remainder of the population in any way. I don't have any Nepalese neighbours, but I'd happily swap some for some of the WASP scrotes who live nearby.As for competitive? If you are a parent at any local school with Gurkha/Nepalese kids on the roll, then your offspring will have to work hard to win a place on the stage at school awards night! Sport, academic subjects, community involvement, mentoring their peers? These kids make sure they're good at it all, and they should be seen as an inspiration to others. And going back to the Army, it was never a good thing to be drawn against a Gurkha team in any sporting competition. It's not that they were unbeatable, just that they never accepted that they were beaten right until the whistle, and they'd run you ragged right until the end.
What sets them apart? They are culturally different to 'us'. Some might say superior in many ways. It's said that a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, and if you forge your 'chain' from Gurkhas, it'll be a very strong chain indeed.
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