Gurkhas vs. French Foreign Legion

S

Steve Tall

Joined
Aug 28, 2010
Messages
5,431
The Battle of Douk-douk vs Khukuri.
It was told by a good mate of mine at Down Under and i've confirmed this with Auntie.
I would like to share with you all here about the origin of khukuri:

The name itself is derived from three words of the Nepali language.

Khu=is derived from "khoon" which means blood.

Ku= is a nepali/sanskrit prefix which denotes Negativity.

Ri= is derived from "Ris" which means anger.

Its is believed that the name was denoted by the Gods as a forewarning to all men that if this weapon is drawn in ANGER combined with NEGATIVITY (malafide intentions), it will only result in BLOOD.
 
I'm not sure how Spetznaz fits into this. Legionaires have a well earned rep as bad dudes, as do Ghurkas.
Both units have a history of being assigned the worst of duties. Should make for an interesting show.
 
I'll put my money on the Gurkhas, but Legionaires are no slouches.

I'd like to see some alternate matchups as well. Like I'd love to see Gurkhas vs Viet Cong.
 
Heart may take people to places that mercenaries can't go.

Patrick Henry said “Give me liberty, or give me death.” Many people rallied around that cry, and proved by their actions that the words were not empty.

Some people defend their families, and they fight until they can fight no more.

A dirt-poor farmboy may be motivated to fight in foreign lands so he can send money back home to his family that sorely needs it. A societal outcast may fight on foreign soil because there is nothing left for him. A citizen of an imperialist state may fight in far away lands because he is drafted by the local political machine, and he is raised to do as he is told.

I guess I’d put my wager on the man defending his family and his liberty. Mayhaps I’d lose my money more often than I’d win.
 
In a life or death situation, when surrender is not an option, winning or dying are the only solutions left.
Left with those choices you give it everything that you have.
Anyone fighting for any other reason suddenly finds themselves at an extreme disadvantage regardless of actual skill level.
Like someone once said about assassins, if someone is determined enough and willing to lay down their own life to take yours, then its damn near impossible to stop them.
 
the FFL are a lot more versitile
para units (HALO HAHO)
swimmer/dive units
sniper units
mountain/climbing units (not on the same level as the Gurkhas)
CT units

but we all know, it's the man, not the unit
 
Silverthorn said:
In a life or death situation, when surrender is not an option, winning or dying are the only solutions left.
Left with those choices you give it everything that you have.
Click to expand...

Aye, and remember, a lot of the "indigenous fighters" touted as skilled were not even close. They did not win the war, they just hung in there until the other force left.

The VC did not win in Vietnam, in fact, the 1968 offensive effectively annihilated the VC as a guerrilla force. It was the NVA (regular army) that hung on from there. MILLIONS of them died as opposed to ~ 59,000 of our guys. That does not, a victory make. We weren't defeated, we picked up our toys and went home. There's a difference, although those that like to shout down America won't admit it.

Warrior vs Warrior, which is what Deadliest Warrior is about, has no such problems. Pit fight, you win or die, no hiding in caves until the other guy gets sick of being there. I think in my proposed matchup of Gurkha vs VC, the Gurkhas would wipe the battlefield with them because the Gurkha are better soldiers. Gurkha vs NVA may be a more even matchup, given that the NVA were trained soldiers. I still think the Gurkha would win. Reason being, I remember my uncle telling me that the ROKs (Army from the Republic of Korea -- South Korea) like to get in close and fight the Vietnamese in close quarters, including hand-to-hand, because the Viets were not skilled at that. They may get you with their AK, but in hand to hand they fell apart.

Now a question I'd have for the FFL vs Gurkha, is are they going to be a modern or historical matchup, since both have been around long enough to do either.
 
Cat, while I agree that it is the MAN, I also know that training, training, training is huge. Both the Legion and the Gurkhas are very professionally trained.
Both outfits have been "boots on the ground" in scruffy backwater conflicts for the last 100 yrs +. Both have been known to intimidate enemies by even rumor of their presence in an AO. Both outfits embody the warrior ethos, and both live a fairly Spartan sort of Garrison life. I believe the Gukhas would hold the edge in armed hand to hand, while the Legion might have the edge in unarmed hand to hand. All in all, a hell of a match-up. I wonder which outfit the Taliban least like to go up against......
 
Taliban would be more afraid of the Gurkha.

There is a great fear of large knives in the muslim world, and I hear tell from men in the theatre that the Taliban (Al-Quaeda actually), are scared spitless of the Gurkha and their kukri.
 
the point was not that training doesn't matter (I said 'unit'), rather that with equvilent training (albiet from different sources, methods, philosophy) the man will determine the outcome

I think the taliban will hold their own and do not care whom they confront
let's not forget their fight with the russians...they are pretty tough fighters
they have picked off a lot of coalition forces off over the years, many SeAL's, Rangers and SF'ers

DaddyDett said:
Cat, while I agree that it is the MAN, I also know that training, training, training is huge. Both the Legion and the Gurkhas are very professionally trained.
Both outfits have been "boots on the ground" in scruffy backwater conflicts for the last 100 yrs +. Both have been known to intimidate enemies by even rumor of their presence in an AO. Both outfits embody the warrior ethos, and both live a fairly Spartan sort of Garrison life. I believe the Gukhas would hold the edge in armed hand to hand, while the Legion might have the edge in unarmed hand to hand. All in all, a hell of a match-up. I wonder which outfit the Taliban least like to go up against......
Click to expand...
 
Cpl Punishment said:
Taliban would be more afraid of the Gurkha.

There is a great fear of large knives in the muslim world, and I hear tell from men in the theatre that the Taliban (Al-Quaeda actually), are scared spitless of the Gurkha and their kukri.
Click to expand...

Perhaps my google fu is lacking... I can find no reference to fear of large knives in the Muslim world.

Rick
 
Ask people who have fought them.

They'll throw things, spit and heckle a man with a rifle. The cower and beg when a man with a pistol come s around, and if they make you come after them, if you have your bayonet fixed, a large knife or hawk in your hand, they will literally piss themselves. Seen that one in Iraq on the first go-around under Bush Sr.

It's a cultural thing. Guys with rifles tend to be stooges with little authority to do anything but beat them. Men with knives ask questions in an unfriendly manner, and you may not survive, or you may come out missing parts you don't want to be missing -- all on a mere suspicion. A man with a pistol is an authority and can generally kill you at his pleasure with little or no repercussions.

To us, we know guys mean business when the rifles come out. To them, they mean business when the pistols and knives come out.
 
if you are talking about a guy with a knife backed up by guys with firearms approaching an unarmed man, yes ANYONE would feel fear
imagine, a bunch of taliban with ak47's and a guy approaching a US prisoner with a knife...pretty sure he'd be 'nervous'
they can't be too afraid of knives, they cut peoples heads off on camera with them

if what you are saying a guy with a knife charging a taliban who has an ak47, and the taliban will retreat in abject terror, I don't buy it...

if you are saying an unarmed man would rather be attacked by a guy with a rifle rather than one with a knife, I'm not buying it

WE have more reason to fear a taliban/al quaida with a knife than they do a US service member with one
they cut peoples heads f'n off!!!

they are animals and will do anything
like tell an 8 year little girl to carry a 'package' up to a police outpost, then detonate it
how do you defeat people like that? nothing matters to them, they have the will (evilness) to kill their own children
reminds me of the 'apocolypse now' speech at the end by kurtz (brando)

I've seen horrors... horrors that you've seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that... but you have no right to judge me. It's impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror... Horror has a face... and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not, then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies! I remember when I was with Special Forces... seems a thousand centuries ago. We went into a camp to inoculate some children. We left the camp after we had inoculated the children for polio, and this old man came running after us and he was crying. He couldn't see. We went back there, and they had come and hacked off every inoculated arm. There they were in a pile. A pile of little arms. And I remember... I... I... I cried, I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out; I didn't know what I wanted to do! And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it... I never want to forget. And then I realized... like I was shot... like I was shot with a diamond... a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought, my God... the genius of that! The genius! The will to do that! Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were stronger than we, because they could stand that these were not monsters, these were men... trained cadres. These men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with love... but they had the strength... the strength... to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men, our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral... and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling... without passion... without judgment... without judgment! Because it's judgment that defeats us.
 
Last edited:
This thread is venturing into the heart of darkness. There is a lot to be learned here, but please be careful and respectful with each other so it does not go south on us.
 
Some seem to have forgotten the motivation and dedication of Japanese soldiers we encountered in WWII. They too were willing to die to win for the Emperor. They died.

There does seem to be something about being chopped up as opposed to "merely" being shot.

A 35 year-old Gurkha soldier named Bishnu Shrestha was riding a train when he suddenly found himself in the middle of a massive robbery. 40 men armed with knives, swords and guns stormed the train and began robbing the passengers.

Bishnu kept his peace while the gang snatched cell phones, jewelry and cash from other riders. But then, the thugs grabbed the 18 year-old girl sitting next to him and forcefully stripped her naked. Before the bandits could rape the poor girl in front of her helpless parents, Bishnu decided he had enough.

“The girl cried for help, saying ´You are a soldier, please save a sister´,” Shrestha recalled. “I prevented her from being raped, thinking of her as my own sister.”

Here's the part of the story that makes you cheer. He pulls out a kukri (i.e. a knife) and proceeds to kill 3 of them, injure 8 of them, and causes the rest to flee. During the battle, he suffered a severe knife injury to his left hand, from which he's now recovered.
Click to expand...

Then there was the mob of thousands advancing on a battalion of Ghurkas at an airport in the former Dutch East Indies. Their rifles and several machine guns not working to deter the mob, who were after fleeing Europeans and Chinese, the Battalion commander had the Riflemen sling rifles and draw khukuris. Hundreds were killed or injured in the resulting stampede brought on by simply seeing the flash of hundreds of blades being drawn.
 
Most people have no experience at all with being shot, so to them a gun is surreal, a thing to threaten with but until shot it doesn't strike the same cord as a blade.

EVERYONE has been cut at some point in their life, and most people by small knives.
When they see a large knife or sword their first instinct is to relate it to an injury that they have suffered and understand, and the greater in size the blade is the more horrifying the potential injury becomes to them.

It is primal, humans have had thousands of years to learn to fear blades and only hundreds to learn to fear guns.
A knife drawn from its sheath is in many ways the same as a gun that has been fired at you, the part that will harm you is already out and inbound.

Also in general, someone who pulls a knife on you is done playing nicely, where every enlisted grunt carries a gun.

From my experience, well let me just say that I prefer to shoot a man over using a knife.
If pressed I will absolutely use lethal force with any and everything at my disposal, but knives make nasty nasty wounds, guns can kill very cleanly.

(P.S. I am aware that knives can kill cleanly as well, but I am not a master of this art...)

Thanks for keeping it respectful also guys, I love our forumites.
 
This thread reminded me of the condemned mountain boy who chopped off a Taliban's head so he could shown it to his superior. It was in the middle of a bullet downpour and nothing such as DNA check. What he did was the only possible way and hell broke loose, he was discharged as what i heard. Messy stuff.

On using Kukri as SD or MA, a useful link made possible by a forumite who i called "the greatest Khuk Librarian ever", BlinkyBill :

http://www.jissenmag.com/documents/Jissen_Issue_7.pdf
"
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top