Re: Ghurkas

My uncle served with a Gurkha unit at one point during the Borneo
campaign
in the early '60's (he was a REME weapons tech, who also happened to be
a
marksman and got sent to every miserable warzone during his time in the
army... said that Aden was the worst of the lot).  He had some
interesting
things to say about the Gurkha troops, their skinning knives (the little
knives that are also carried in the sheath of a kukri), and their policy
toward captured communist insurgents...

He also told of an occasion while on patrol with a section of Gurkhas
along
the China-Hong Kong border - climing over a hill, they saw a large unit
of
the Chinese army just over the border (he described it as "the whole
bleedin' Chinese army").  The Gurkhas (numbering about 10) looked at the
Chinese, looked at themselves, looked at my uncle (a sergeant at the
time)
and the Gurkha section commander's comment was "fair odds"...

>Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2001 21:47:23 +0000
>From: Ground Zero Games <jon@gzg.com>
>Subject: Re: Ghurkas
>
>>I would believe either variant.  I also heard a story of a time that a
>>British officer, feeling superior, hughtily instructed a Gurkha Sgt.
heading
>>out on patrol to bring him a German officer's watch.	reportedly the
Gurkha
>>complied, but the watch was still on a wrist.
>
>I've heard the "I.D. by shoelace knot" story as well. I also recall my
>father talking about his days as an RA gunner in the desert campaign
(on
>25pdrs at Alamein!) and mentioning serving with Gurkha units at various
>times - even our own troops were (respectfully) scared stiff of the
little
>blighters, especially after rumours that they were bringing Jerry heads
>back with them from patrols....
>
>Jon (GZG)
>>

********************************************

Adrian Johnson
adrian.johnson@sympatico.ca