Gurkhas vs. French Foreign Legion

[Cpl Punishment]

Quote I ran across, that might be of interest:

“…the British Gurkha soldier, recruited from Nepal, was an enormous help in the successful defeat of the aggressor forces. The Gurkha soldiers have a record of more than a century and a half of loyal service in the British Army. They are small men, but incredibly tough, brave, and skillful at all forms of war, particularly in the jungle. When ambushed, their reactions were so quick and vicious they frequently won the ensuing fight. They suffered casualties, but still pursued the enemy force until every single man in it was either killed or captured.”

British Weapons & Tactics in Malaya, Jac Weller

 

[JayGoliath]

From this link:
http://1942malaya.blogspot.com/2009/06/gurkha-rifles-regiment.html

For the next seven years, Gurung remained in the jungle. Friendly Chinese villagers brought him food, and he trapped wild pigs and grew his own crops. Finally in 1949, a Gurkha patrol from the 1st Battalion, 10th Gurkha Rifles found him while pursuing communist rebels. He was awarded back pay, a pension, and medical treatment for seven years’ worth of terrible dietary deficiencies.

I don't know how many could stay sane that way but i would have certainly went cuckoo.

 

[creightonfcb]

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.

I can confirm this, both in Iraq and Afghanistan... wore either a SR Ratwilier or other large Busse or Bussekin and never had anyone try anything with me... can't say the same for the rest of the unit I was with...

 

[bigeard09]

On "Deadliest Warrior" TV show:

"...Both are known for their ferocity and prowess in battle. However, sadly for the Legionnaires, the battle will be no contest. It will be the Gurkhas hands down. The Foreign Legion is a formidable unit, but they are only made up of human beings. The Gurkhas are on another level entirely..."

from commentary by Mark Whittington
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8132833/why_the_gurkhas_will_dominate_french.html?cat=9

To answer this question with any realism and also ask yourself in what particular tactical scenario are you predicting where any particular combat unit would be fighting another combat unit of equal size is like asking how long is a piece of string !.so the best way is to look at the general mindset and tactics of each of these units !
Remember a British Gurkha Infantry unit is exactly that , trained to the same standards , using the same tactics as any other British Infantry unit ! The fact that they presumably carry a khukuri knife as part of their battle order does not make them an invincible fighting force , yes a formidable fighting infantry force BUT NOT INVINCIBLE ! And what is the point of using a khukuri against an enemy using automaticweapons/ rifles ? The khukuri would be used as a last ditch weapon after exhausting all of your amunition .
On the other hand a French Foreign Legion Infantry unit of the same size are trained with a different mindset using slightly differing combat tactics from the Brits . The Legion rightly or wrongly are trained to follow orders from NCOs and Officers where the" Mission et Sacree " the end mission is sacred and I believe it is to bulldoze their way through adversities to overcome their enemy !
Both units are effective in their own rights only using slightly differing tactics . So in my opinion the original question would be hard to answer . I do however believe that the British infantry Tom are encouraged to understandtheir combat tactics to a slightly deeper degree than a Legionnaire but one has to remember that over 150 nationalites serve in the Legion and it must take a well tried and tested organisation to forrm these different languages and cultures into a well disciplned fighting force !

 

[davidf99]

I remember the Deadliest Warrior show. I watched it with enjoyment for a while. However, it became deeply ahistorical in later episodes, and set up ridiculous scenarios that had no basis in reality, other than to show off different kinds of weaponry. Which is ok as long as you don't pretend it's anything more.

For example, one show pitted Jesse James and his gang against Al Capone and a mafia crew in a shootout. That was the last straw for me. The Mafia style was mostly assassinations, not gunfights. The bullet in the back of the head. The garrot. The machine gun from a moving car. The James gang would have used six-shooters and rifles, mostly to carry out armed robberies, sometimes on foot, sometimes from horseback. No one can say with any certainly how proficient Jesse James and his buddies were with their weapons, but probably they were pretty good. As for Al Capone and his people, who knows how they would have fared in a shootout with an experienced gang of robbers under the conditions portrayed in the episode.

Then there was the utterly ridiculous battle between Sun Tsu, the Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer against Vlad the Impaler. This is childish stuff. The weapons were not even secondary; each of these historical figures would have been leading an army of thousands. You might as well ask who would have won in a gunfight between General Eisenhower and the German Chief of Staff, or a wrestling match between Hulk Hogan and a grizzly bear. I'd give odds on the bear, but that's not the point here.

Apologies to those who liked the show. I did too, until it went off the rails as I've described.