Gorkha Sighting

Jaeger

Jaeger

Joined
Feb 27, 1999
Messages
543

I was watching CNN at lunch today and they were doing a piece on Indonesia. They showed some troops (Austrian?) running around with Styer AUGs and a British Gorkha soldier. No interview and I couldn't see a khukri but he was definitely a Gorkha! A very determined looking fellow. All business!

Mike
 
The BBC usually shows their British troops whenever they're involved, and in this case since most of the British contingent in East Timor are Gurkhas (there was talk of SBS being there too), they've shown clips of Gurkhas several times. In a couple of these I was able to see them with their khukuris - they were carrying them on their left backside, more to their sides than their backs, rather than the usually seen right backside wear. I think its easier this way for a crossdraw for a right-handed person, rather than having to reach behind your back to get to your khukuri.

With the British involved in two hot spots at the moment, and both places seeing Gurkhas being deployed - 1st Bn. RGR in Kosovo last we heard, and elements of Brunei based 2nd Bn. RGR in East Timor - I hope their brass realizes that perhaps it might make sense to have more than two battalions of these fellows around! I know this would be welcome news to a lot of boys back in the hills of Nepal.

- Sonam
 
That would be very good news for the hill folks back in Nepal! I got a letter from somebody back in Nepal awhile back and they said the Brits had a recruiting session -- 500 kids showed up and only three were selected. 497 boys went home feeling very sad.

------------------
Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html
 
That is terrible Uncle Bill.

What exactly were the recruiters looking for that only 3 out of 500 volunteers possessed?

Seems like for a lot of these guys joining the British army is one of the greatest opportunities they will ever get.

Hopefully recruiting policy will improve for them in the future, but I guess Britain is having some problems of its own right now. With the Scots and the Welsh wanting to join the EU on their own terms, the continuing violence in Northern Ireland, and the general lack of jobs all around the UK the future of Britain seems murky at best.

Oh well. Can't predict the future. Hopefully life will improve for the Gorkha volunteers.

-Dave
 
JAEGER,
Australian troops carry the Styer as their issued weapon.
The fact that some news people said the SBS folks would be snooping around means they were in and out of their before these guys filed their report.
Ghurkas and their officers add the khukuri AFTER they put on their "alice" gear. The scabbards and sometimes the handles are camoflaged.
The Brits themselves are up in arms about how horrible the Gurkhas are compensated and how little they are "paid" upon retirement or the family gets after his demise. When the 2 Gurkhas got killed dismantling that mine in Kosovo, and people found out what the widows got they went nuts. The whole is now being looked at in the proper light, thank God.


------------------
JP
 
Just catching up on some of the threads and just found out what is PC.
So Gorkha it shall be, but even the RGR at Church Crookham and the barracks in Winchester use Gurkha.
But I will bow to Pala's wishes and not spell gurkah, goorkha, ghurka, gurca, or even kurkah (yes, I saw this once). And I will never spell KOOKRIE.

------------------
JP
 
I was not aware of that John.

Had no idea what the Brits thought of the Gorkhas.

My experiences in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England proved to me that the peoples of all four nations are all very honorable. The leaders of Britain may be just about as bad as our own, but the people themselves are beyond reproach.

No way would any Glaswegian begrudge a Ghorka his pay.

-Dave
 
Like I said in another post. What would a Seal think if we referred to him as a "seel."

If the Gorkhas call themselves Gorkhas....

I made a mistake somewhere by saying that Pala "dictated". He dictated to me that I change the website to correct spelling and ASKED forumites to join him in his effort to correct the spelling here in the forum.

My mistake.

We were able to turn around the spelling of khukuri and he hopes we can do the same with Gorkha. The proper spelling lends real meaning to the word. Actually, there is no such thing as a Gurkha any more than there is a Navy "seel."



------------------
Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html


[This message has been edited by Bill Martino (edited 01 October 1999).]
 
Dave,
It's quite wonderful to see the British people so angered about how their government has treated the Gorkhaharu (see how PC I am) all these years.
They know what these men have done for them and are truly disgraced by the huge cuts in pensions and payments. The say a lot of the problem was with Maggie Thatcher slicing budgets to make the economy look good.
Uncle,
As I said, I bow to Pala's wishes, but someone has to tell the Brits!

------------------
JP
 
Pala's points about proper spelling of Gorkha.

The first Gorkhaharu were men who fought for the king of Gorkha, Prithivi Narayan Shah, in an effort to unite Nepal into a single cohesive country. They succeeded and Prithivi can be rightfully called the George Washington of Nepal. He put Nepal together.

The first Gorkhas to serve under the British flag were recruited by Lt. Frederick Young, who had been held captive earlier by the Gorkhas. They were Gorkhas, men of Gorkha. Their battle cry was "Ayo Gorkhali!"

Pala points out that there is not a place called Gurkha in Nepal but there is a place called Gorkha. He further points out that in Nepal, the home of the Gorkha, they are not called Gurkha but Gorkha.

Gorkha harks back to the first highly organized fighting men of Nepal and means something both historically and geographically. Gurkha is a British corruption of the word and in actuality means nothing.

Again, I apologize for miscommunicating Pala's request as a "dictate." That was my mistake. Pala is much too polite to dictate anything to anybody -- except me, Yangdu and the kamis, but let's face it, he's the boss.

------------------
Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html
 
Here is an email I received which I was asked to post and it is self explanatory.
--------------------------------------------
Bill, you might want to post this on the HI forum under the topic "Gorkha
Sighting" . You will find that the Austrians that some are refering to are
in fact Australians and yes the Styer Aug is the main issue rifle with us,
along with the M16A1 and variants which are general used by our Special
Forces. Both John Powell and gtguy have made reference to the SBS:

>The BBC usually shows their British troops whenever they're involved,
>and in this case since most of the British contingent in East Timor are
>Gurkhas (there was talk of SBS being there too), they've shown clips
>of Gurkhas several times.

The SBS he is refering to is NOT Britian's Special Boat Service but the
Australian television station SBS who is providing the bulk of the coverage.
The Australian SAS are involved but certainly not the British SBS.

Thank you for allowing me to correct these errors
Regards

Dean White
(using his girlfriend's e-mail, as he is currently e-mail-less)
 
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