Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: danny76 on August 17, 2012, 02:25:32 AM
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I am extremely fond of these guys, I had the pleasure of serving alongside them and they are without doubt some of the gutsiest (and bloody scariest) soldiers in the world.
(http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu108/metallldan/ghurkha.jpg)
There have been two stories about them recently that have caught my attention.
A Gurkha soldier who single-handedly defeated more than 30 Taliban fighters has been awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross by the Queen.
Corporal Dipprasad Pun, 31, described how he was spurred on by the belief that he was going to die and so had nothing to lose in taking on the attackers who overran his checkpoint in Afghanistan.
'That incident happened in the middle of my tour and after that I thought nobody can kill us now - when we met the enemy I wasn't scared.
'I thought the Taliban did not have the capacity to fight with us.'
Cpl Pun, an acting sergeant during his Afghan deployment, was on sentry duty at the time of the attack when he heard a clinking noise outside the small base.
At first he thought it might be a donkey or a cow, but when he went to investigate he found two insurgents digging a trench to lay an improvised explosive device (IED) at the checkpoint's front gate.
He realised that he was completely surrounded and that the Taliban were about to launch a well-planned attempt to overrun the compound.
The enemy opened fire from all sides, destroying the sentry position where the soldier had been on duty minutes before.
Defending the base from the roof, the Gurkha remained under continuous attack from rocket-propelled grenades and AK47s for more than a quarter of an hour.
Most of the militants were about 50ft away from him, but at one point he turned around to see a 'huge' Taliban fighter looming over him.
The soldier picked up his machine gun and fired a long burst at the man until he fell off the roof.
When another insurgent tried to climb up to his position, the Gurkha attempted to shoot him with his SA80 rifle. But it did not work, either because it had jammed or because the magazine was empty.
He first grabbed a sandbag but it had not been tied up and the contents fell to the floor.
Then he seized the metal tripod of his machine gun and threw it at the approaching Taliban militant, shouting in Nepali 'Marchu talai' ('I will kill you') and knocking him down.
Two insurgents were still attacking by the time the heroic Gurkha had used up all his ammunition, but he set off a Claymore mine to repel them.
At this point his company commander, Major Shaun Chandler, arrived at the checkpoint, slapped him on the back and asked if he was OK.
In total he fired off 250 general purpose machine gun rounds, 180 SA80 rounds, six phosphorous grenades, six normal grenades, five underslung grenade launcher rounds and one Claymore mine.
The only weapon he did not use was the traditional Kukri knife carried by Gurkhas because he did not have his with him at the time.
The married soldier, whose father and grandfather were also Gurkhas, is originally from the village of Bima in western Nepal but now lives in Ashford, Kent.
His medal citation said he saved the lives of three comrades at the checkpoint at that time and prevented the position being overrun.
It read: 'Pun could never know how many enemies were attempting to overcome his position, but he sought them out from all angles despite the danger, consistently moving towards them to reach the best position of attack.'
Major General Nicholas Carter, who was commander of combined forces, including British troops, in southern Afghanistan during Cpl Pun's deployment, praised the soldier and those from the Mercian Regiment receiving gallantry awards today.
The senior officer, who received the Distinguished Service Order from the Queen for his leadership in the Middle East country, said: 'Their efforts have been tremendous. It was a privilege to have members of the 1st Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles and the Mercian Regiment under my command.
'The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross does not get handed out lightly, it was a most remarkable achievement by that particular young Gurkha.'
I have no idea why this action did not qualify the young man for a Victoria Cross, at the same time there was this:
Just picture the scene as a soldier returns from hunting an arch-enemy. Commanding officer: 'Did you get him?' Soldier: 'Yes, sir.' Commanding officer: 'Are you sure?' Soldier: 'Yes, sir.' Soldier reaches into rucksack and places severed head on table.
Commanding officer: ' ****!' If it happened in a Hollywood movie, the audience would either laugh or applaud. But there was no laughter the other day when this happened for real in Babaji, Afghanistan, current posting for the 1st Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles.
The precise circumstances will not be determined until an official report has been completed, but reliable military sources have confirmed that a Gurkha patrol was sent out with orders to track down a Taliban warlord described as a 'high-value target'.
Having identified their target, a fierce battle ensued during which the warlord was killed. To prove that they had got their man, the Gurkhas attempted to remove the body for identification. Further enemy fire necessitated a fast exit minus corpse. So, an unnamed soldier drew his kukri - the standard-issue Gurkha knife - removed the man's head and legged it.
Ten out of ten for initiative. Nought out of ten for diplomacy. :rofl
Nato forces are supposed to be winning 'hearts and minds' and bolstering the fledgling Afghan National Army. This incident, however, has apparently appalled Afghans on all sides, not least because it offends the Muslim tradition of burying the dead with all body parts, attached or unattached.
It transpires that the Gurkha soldier has been removed from operations and sent back to his barracks in Kent pending further investigations. Ministry of Defence sources have been quick to emphasise that the British Army is appalled by what has happened. According to one: 'There is no sense of glory involved, more a sense of shame. He should not have done what he did.
I suggest that it beats the "buried at sea" method of confirming a kill :)
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Total Legends,
deserve more respect from UK Gov. but serious Soldiers
formidable allies..ferocious enemy, I know which side I know I want then on.
:salute
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Anyone else click on this hoping it was cigar related? :cheers:
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Anyone else click on this hoping it was cigar related? :cheers:
:aok
I prefer monte cristo.
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:aok
I prefer monte cristo.
CAO here.
Ferocious fighters, though. :aok
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They are certainly warriors.
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Those are some scary-awesome men.
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There's a famous humorous story about the Gurkhas during World War II.
14th Army Commander Gen. William Slim came up with a plan to drop Gurkhas behind Japanese lines in Burma. When it was explained to the Gurkha battalion that the air drop would be at 700ft, the battalion's colonel noticed that the usually enthusiastic Gurkhas were rather subdued and very uncharacteristically unenthusiastic about the whole thing.
Later the Gurkha Sgt.Major for the battalion approached the colonel and with some embarrassment, relayed a request from the troops that were uneasy with dropping from 700ft so they had requested the air drop be lowered to 300ft instead.
"Good God, man!" said the colonel. "The parachutes won't open at 300 feet!"
"Oh," said the sergeant-major with some relief. "We'll be wearing parachutes, will we."
I'd hate to be the soldier that has to face them.
ack-ack
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:rofl :rock
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Had one of those knives years ago...lost it coming back from overseas. :salute
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can anybody post a link to that story when the there was an attack, think australians were covering the left flank the the ghurkhas in the middle then the australians heard this scary yelling and when they got to the position that was being attacked the found out the ghurkhas had dropped their rifle and decided to attack only with their knife.
semp
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Because, as I have said here before; "A big fellow with a rifle and a scowl is not half so frightening as a little fellow with a knife and a smile."
Ayo Gorkhali!
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There's a famous humorous story about the Gurkhas during World War II.
14th Army Commander Gen. William Slim came up with a plan to drop Gurkhas behind Japanese lines in Burma. When it was explained to the Gurkha battalion that the air drop would be at 700ft, the battalion's colonel noticed that the usually enthusiastic Gurkhas were rather subdued and very uncharacteristically unenthusiastic about the whole thing.
Later the Gurkha Sgt.Major for the battalion approached the colonel and with some embarrassment, relayed a request from the troops that were uneasy with dropping from 700ft so they had requested the air drop be lowered to 300ft instead.
"Good God, man!" said the colonel. "The parachutes won't open at 300 feet!"
"Oh," said the sergeant-major with some relief. "We'll be wearing parachutes, will we."
I'd hate to be the soldier that has to face them.
ack-ack
Love this!! :aok at the end of the war when Germany had ran out of everything including silk for parachutes, they dropped to 75 feet & 65-70 MPH over pasture and armed officers forced young recruits to jump. :furious
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speaking of ghurka's...
Man bites snake to death
Last updated 11:52 24/08/2012
A Nepali man who was bitten by a cobra snake bit it back and killed the reptile in a tit-for-tat attack.
Nepal daily newspaper Annapurna Post reported Mohamed Salmo Miya chased the cobra, caught it and bit it until it died, after the snake had first bitten him in a rice paddy.
"I could have killed it with a stick, but bit it with my teeth instead because I was angry," said the 55-year-old Miya, who lives in a village some 200km southeast of the Nepali capital of Kathmandu.
The snake, called "goman" in Nepal, is also known as the common cobra.
Police official Niraj Shahi said the man, who was being treated at a village health post and was not in danger of dying, would not be charged with killing the snake because the reptile was not among snake species listed as endangered in Nepal.
- Reuters
:huh
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(http://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx171/mjolnir6_photos/Gurkhas.jpg)
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speaking of ghurka's...
:huh
yeah I saw that and thought of this thread
old journalism adage - snake bites man isnt a story. man bites snake IS a story :D
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best knife ever made is the Ghurka, I have had this one for 15 years.....put it through the paces....it used to have the wooden handle but on the third whack it shattered in my hand.....I wrapped it in leather....by far my favorite knife.
the cutout on the base of the blade is a religious symbol.
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/fieldsofink/S3000032.jpg)
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:lol classic pic :aok
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Is that your passport photo Ink?
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Is that your passport photo Ink?
:D
they wont give me a passport..... :noid
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I was going to say, are you sure that picture is biometric? There might be a problem at passport control :lol
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at the passport office:
desk: have you completed the forms Mr Ink?
Ink: yup here ya go
desk: we need 2 passport photos as well, do you have those?
Ink: yup here ya go
desk: ok Mr Ink thats fine, let me check these ... SECURITY! :bolt:
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at the passport office:
desk: have you completed the forms Mr Ink?
Ink: yup here ya go
desk: we need 2 passport photos as well, do you have those?
Ink: yup here ya go
desk: ok Mr Ink thats fine, let me check these ... SECURITY! :bolt:
:rofl :cry :rofl
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They'd make good Marines indeed :salute
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They'd make good Marines indeed :salute
They have only one wish as a young man in Nepal, and that is to join the Ghurka's. I doubt they would want to join the marines. Its quite a hardship for their families if they fail the selection and there have been a number of suicides amongst guys failing the entrance course. Not saying the marines are anything less than amazing. Royal Marines entrance test is 30 weeks long and amongst the hardest in the world.
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I SALUTE the Ghurkas. I read your OP and just thought ...WOW!. The comment from me above was just a tongue in cheek joke on my part. Sometimes my sense of humor doesn't translate too well over the internet. :frown:
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I SALUTE the Ghurkas. I read your OP and just thought ...WOW!. The comment from me above was just a tongue in cheek joke on my part. Sometimes my sense of humor doesn't translate too well over the internet. :frown:
I honestly just took it at face value :salute
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In a fight with Ink I would own him :old:
(are you sure you cannot get a passport?)
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In a fight with Ink I would own him :old:
(are you sure you cannot get a passport?)
:rofl :rofl :rofl
holy hell that made me smile....thanx I needed it.
we would never fight, the only thing that would cause me to get violent again, would be someone trying to hurt my family.....for some reason....I don't think you are that kind of person. :salute