Gurkha soldier awarded GB's second highest medal

[MoJo]

All I can say is WOW! What a fight.

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[Jumping Frog]

Yeah, Gurkhas are warriors.

This story was in American Handgunner several issues ago. Same issue told of a different Gurkha NCO who was recently retired defended civilians being robbed on a train in India. There were something like 30 robbers and he killed them all with his knife.

They let him "un-retire" and rejoin his regiment.

[pbwalker]

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but yeah, these guys are hardcore!

[Jumping Frog]

This story was in American Handgunner several issues ago.

Actually, I slightly misremembered the citation. it was the October issue of Guns Magazine.

Here is the digital edition: http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMG ... /GUNS1011/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The table of contents will link you to John Connor's column "Odd Angry Shot" on page 94.

A fair use excerpt:

Rolling through jungled country in West Bengal, India, several passengers of a train suddenly revealed themselves as bandits; seizing control and stopping the train to let waiting bandits aboard. There were 40 of them, armed with pistols, swords and knives. Loud and threatening, they stripped passengers of money, jewelry and other valuables. One passenger, Bishnu Shresthra, sat calmly and watched.

Faced with a cutback in personnel, Sergeant Shresthra had voluntarily taken early retirement from his Gurkha regiment in the Indian Army to save the billet for a younger Gurkha.

He didn’t make a move until bandits grabbed an 18-year-old girl and threatened to rape her in front of her parents. That’s when he stood, drew the long, curved, ever-present kukri concealed at his side—and attacked. Conditions were perfect for a Gurkha’s hacking and slashing fighting style with the kukri: in the train’s narrow passageway, only two or three bandits at a time could face him. And the odds were on his side: just 40 dacoits against a veteran Gurkha! The fight raged on for 20 minutes. Shreshthra suffered knife wounds to his hand and arm, later requiring extensive surgery. He killed three dacoits, seriously wounded eight, and literally chased the others off the train and into the jungle—alone. Police recovered 400,000 rupees, 40 gold necklaces, 40 laptops and 200 cell phones dropped by the fleeing bandits.

He did not boast of his actions. The girl told police what he had done. He explained that fighting enemies in battle was his duty as a soldier. Fighting the dacoits, he said, was “my duty as a human being.”

The Indian government invited Shresthra to rejoin his regiment.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Due to cutbacks in the English Army, there are only 176 Gurkha slots available.
There are currently 6,000 applicants for these slots.

There is a saying that once a Gurkha draws his knife, it has to taste blood, even if
the Gurkha has to cut himself with it.

SIA

[puma guy]

My dad spent WWII in India and he told me about the Gurkhas. Mean motor scooters and much feared by their enemies. Short and very stout with tremendous strenght and practiced at using their weapons. They have a ceremony in which an oxen is sacrificed and must be beheaded with a single blow if i remember my dad's story correctly. He brought back one of their knives which my brother and would use to have "sword" fights. One of us would us the Gurkha and the other would use the Sikh sword he came home with. Twin boys are a terrible thing to behold when two half brains get together.

[PUCKER]

He did not boast of his actions. The girl told police what he had done. He explained that fighting enemies in battle was his duty as a soldier. Fighting the dacoits, he said, was “my duty as a human being.”

Amazing story! All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing! Yes, I know we've all heard it before, but it is so true!

Andy - that is a great pic of you and a Ghurka fighter!

Due to being a cigar nut, I can't help but think of Ghurka Cigars....they are pretty potent (as in butt-kicking).

[rwg3]

If any here watch the cooking channel, the series "Two Fat Ladies" has an episode (season 2, #6 Dinner) features the Royal Gurkha Rifles At the Queen Elisabeth barracks in Aldershot. As I recall it shows some staged maneuvers, cooking in a field kitchen and the officers mess. The mess is interesting for the artifacts shown.

[WildBill]

Amazing story! All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing! Yes, I know we've all heard it before, but it is so true!

Andy - that is a great pic of you and a Ghurka fighter!

Due to being a cigar nut, I can't help but think of Ghurka Cigars....they are pretty potent (as in butt-kicking).

After seeing and reading all this stuff, I don't know if I am worthy to smoke a Ghurka Cigar.

[Bullwhip]

Small man, big knife, big grin, bad combo