Argentina national team with Falklands banner

[mammutly]

The Falklands are thousands of miles away. Of course they should be owned by the UK. The Mormons own a bit of Chorley, so why not.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

They didn't but they did have a lot of special forces on the island and outnumbered us by 3-1 in most of the battles

Your statistical, numerical reference supports, not undermines, my point.

I wasn't trying to undermine it, I was supporting it.

Sorry mate. Misunderstood. Apologies.

 

[mcmanus]

throw the Ghurkas into the mix as well

Scary fuckers.

An ex paratrooper I know says the Ghurkas could sneek up behind you and tie your shoelaces together without you noticing. Hard bastards too.

 

[Henkeman]

throw the Ghurkas into the mix as well

Scary fuckers.

An ex paratrooper I know says the Ghurkas could sneek up behind you and tie your shoelaces together without you noticing. Hard bastards too.

The missus' grandfather was a naval commando (not a marine commando, a naval one) and served with them in Burma in the war (send a sailor into the jungle - it's obvious, right?), he adored them. Anyway, when he was in his nineties, the Gurkhas home barracks moved to Shorncliffe in Folkestone, and he lived in Dover. As part of the celebration of their arrival, they invited him along (goodness knows how they found out that he might be interested and was local), and there's a truly wonderful photograph of him sat on his chair with about a dozen young Gurkhas sat cross legged in front of him as he told them all about their grandfathers. Wonderful memory.

 

[stony]

throw the Ghurkas into the mix as well

Scary fuckers.

An ex paratrooper I know says the Ghurkas could sneek up behind you and tie your shoelaces together without you noticing. Hard bastards too.

The Ghurkas are hardy as fuck, but there are a lot of myths built around them. My dad was posted to India just after the war and had a huge amount of respect for them.
He was forever regaling me with tales about Ghurkas sneaking into the sleeping bags of sleeping squaddies and not disturbing them, or officers giving orders for a Ghurka driver to turn left and them immediately obeying it and driving into a river or something. Or not being able to draw their Kukris without drawing blood, so they would happily show you the blade but then slice their own finger before putting it back in its sheaf.
Great soldiers with legendary stamina and bravery, but a lot of what's said about them is hugely exaggerated.
Probably a good thing where the Falklands war is concerned, because the Argie conscripts believed enough of it to surrender without a fight.
Or is that another half truth ?

 

[Skashion]

I don't think much of what is said is exaggerated because there is plenty of proof of their feats. The shoe laces thing might be a myth, although there's little reason to disbelieve it for me, but as for the rest of their reputation, there are at least four incidents I know of where single Gurkhas fought off dozens, even hundreds with the body counts to prove it. One of those was only last year and three years ago a Gurkha came back with the head of an Afghan warlord as proof they'd got him. There was another recent incident of an off-duty Indian Gurkha who fought off armed train robbers who attempted to rape someone. That's what a modern day Indian Army Gurkha can do whereas Britain takes only the best:

POKHARA, Jan 13: Gorkha soldiers have long been known the world over for their valor and these khukuri-wielding warriors winning the British many a battle have become folklore.

A retired Indian Gorkha soldier recently revisited those glory days when he thwarted 40 robbers, killing three of them and injuring eight others, with his khukuri during a train journey. He is in line to receive three gallantry awards from the Indian government.

Slave girl Morgiana in the Arabian Nights used her cunning to finish off Ali Baba´s 40 thieves, but Bishnu Shrestha of Baidam, Pokhara-6 did not have time to plot against the 40 train robbers. He, however, made good use of his khukuri to save the chastity of a girl and hundreds of thousands in loot.

Shrestha, who was in the Maurya Express to Gorakhpur from Ranchi on September 2 while returning home following voluntary retirement from the Indian army--saved the girl who was going to be raped by the robbers in front of her hapless parents, and in doing so won plaudits from everybody.

The Indian government is to decorate Shrestha with its Sourya Chakra, Bravery Award and Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Medal and the 35-year-old is leaving for India Saturday to receive the first of the awards on the occasion of India´s Republic Day on January 26.

“The formal announcement of the awards will be made on Republic Day and on Independence Day on August 15,” said Shrestha, whose father Gopal Babu also retired from the same 7/8 Platoon of the Gorkha Regiment around 29 years ago.

His regiment has already given him a cash award of Indian rupees 50,000, and decided to terminate his voluntary retirement. He will get the customary promotion after receiving the medals. The Indian government will also announce a cash bounty for him and special discounts on international air tickets and domestic train tickets.

The band of about 40 robbers, some of whom were travelling as passengers, stopped the train in the Chittaranjan jungles in West Bengal around midnight. Shrestha-- who had boarded the train at Ranchi in Jharkhand, the place of his posting--was in seat no. 47 in coach AC3.

“They started snatching jewelry, cell phones, cash, laptops and other belongings from the passengers,” Shrestha recalled. The soldier had somehow remained a silent spectator amidst the melee, but not for long. He had had enough when the robbers stripped an 18-year-old girl sitting next to him and tried to rape her right in front of her parents. He then took out his khukuri and took on the robbers.

“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,” he added. He took one of the robbers under control and then started to attack the others. He said the rest of the robbers fled after he killed three of them with his khukuri and injured eight others.

During the scuffle he received serious blade injury to his left hand while the girl also had a minor cut on her neck. “They had carried out their robbery with swords, blades and pistols. The pistols may have been fake as they didn´t open fire,” he surmised.

The train resumed its journey after some 20 minutes and a horde of media persons and police were present when it reached Chittaranja station. Police arrested the eight injured dacoits and recovered around 400,000 Indian rupees in cash, 40 gold necklaces, 200 cell phones, 40 laptops and other items that the fleeing robbers dropped in the train.

Police escorted Shrestha to the Railways Hospital after the rescued girl told them about his heroic deed. Mainstream Indian media carried the story. The parents of the girl, who was going for her MBBS studies, also announced a cash award of Indian rupees 300,000 for him but he has not met them since.

“Even the veins and arteries in my left hand were slit but the injury has now healed after two months of neurological treatment at the Command Hospital in Kolkata,” he said showing the scar. “Fighting the enemy in battle is my duty as a soldier; taking on the dacoits in the train was my duty as a human being,” said the Indian army nayak, who has been given two guards during his month-long holidays in Nepal.

“I am proud to be able to prove that a Gorkha soldier with a khukuri is really a handful. I would have been a meek spectator had I not carried that khukuri,” he said.

He still finds it hard to believe that he took on 40 armed robbers alone. “They may have feared that more of my army friends were traveling with me and fled after fighting me for around 20 minutes,” he explained.

It's not that surprising in all honestly. Firstly, they grow up in Nepal running up and down the side of mountains. Their upbringing means they are far far ahead of the average before selection even begins. They've grown up with knowledge and experience that an inner-city kid from Britain couldn't possibly emulate. Secondly, selection is brutal and has a lower selection rate than the SAS. When we take Gurkhas we take the very very best of born soldiers essentially.

 

[kinkysleftfoot]

I've had the pleasure of working with the Gurkhas on several occasions both infantry and engineers. They are tough little fuckers who seem to be able to live on a handful of rice a day whilst working their nuts off. When out of barracks they always wear smart jacket and trousers and I've seen uneducated locals pick on them for this several times...........big mistake!