1971 Gorkha victory using khukuris only

[Steve Tall]

A recent article recalls a 1971 Gorkha victory over Pakistani defenses, where the Gorkha battalion attacked "silently" at night using only their khukuris.

"...The capture of Atgram involved a series of complex manoeuvres: Crossing the Surma river and securing a bridgehead; infiltrating about five kilometres between BoPs through marsh; establishing road blocks south and west of Atgram; and finally silently seizing Atgram from the rear. The assault was to be without any preparatory bombardment or accompanying fire support, a classic close-quarter battle operation relaying on Gorkha ingenuity, instinct and the khukuri which proved to be the weapon of decision."

"Not before and not since has any battalion launched a full scale assault employing just the khukuri and guile..."

"...no weapons were fired. Surprise was intact and by 5am the fierce khukuri assault had silenced Maj Alvi’s Bravo Company. In the mopping up, nearly 45 bodies were found scattered around the main position..."

quoted from Lethal combination: A Gorkha and his khukuri , by Ashok K Mehta, DailyPioneer.com, 19 Dec 2012
http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/item/53043-lethal-combination-a-gorkha-and-his-khukuri.html

 

[John A. Larsen]

Steve, i thought there must be something wrong with your posting as Pakistan did not become a separate country until 1947, so pretty hard for this to have happened in 1941. The link you were kind enough to include cleared up my confusion by stating it was in 1971. John

 

[Steve Tall]

D'oh!