The year was 1815, and the British Empire was still licking its wounds from the bloody
and painful American revolution. In spite of its recent failures however, Britain could still be,
relatively speaking, considered to be living in its glory days. They had acquired and managed to
hold territory all over the world, with the continents of Africa and Asia being
hardest hit. With that said, it was inevitable that the small country of Nepal just north of
British ruled India was to be invaded next. The British of course made true to this and
although they were expecting minimal resistance, the Nepali Gurkha regiments fought so ferociously
and the British took so many casualties that high command breathed a sigh of relief when a
peace treaty was hastily reached with the small nation. This treaty then allowed the British to
recruit from their former enemy and in World War 2, the help of the Gurkhas was quickly
enlisted by the desperate allies, who proved to be some of the fiercest soldiers of that war too.
“Better to die than be a coward” is the striking Gurkha motto that strikes fear into the hearts
of enemies. To this day, the proud Gurkha men and the 4 main ethnic groups who exist under
the name still carry with them a traditional 18 inch knife known as the Kukri. It was said
that once a Kukri was drawn in the heat of battle, it had to taste blood and if not,
its owner had to cut himself before returning it to its sheath. So with the stage set, let’s
get into why the Gurkhas were such badasses and what they actually did in World War 2.
By the time of the war, most if not all Gurkha units had been absorbed by the British army.
This meant that wherever the Brits fought, you could expect to find a couple of Gurkha
battalions nestled in there as well. According to one description of the Gurkhas by author Ralph G
Martin, “they were always smiling, always laughing like a bunch of kids just young enough to think
the whole world was a big joke But when night came, these smiling, laughing little guys would
creep quietly out between the lines with their kukris, their eighteen inch razor sharp curved
knives and when they came upon across a big German guy, they would hack at his thighs. If
somebody came at them with a bayonet, they would chop at his arms, otherwise, they just confined
themselves to lopping off heads which they do quickly, cleanly, with a professional touch."
The Gurkhas, it should also be added, had an almost unbreakable relationship
with the British. Their morale in battle while surrounded by both fellow Gurkhas
and Brits was resolute and both the British and Gurkha man came to be
fiercely proud of the close military bonds forged together between these 2 completely
different and distinct warrior cultures on war battlefields around the world.
Anyways getting back on track, the 43 battalions of Gurkhas not only fought
the Germans in North Africa and Italy of course, but they also gave the Japanese nightmares Malaya,
Singapore, Burma and North East India. The Gurkha battalions that fought against the
Japanese weren’t constrained by the politics of the European theatre and the fighting that
went on there was much more chaotic. This led many Gurkhas, and the Brits alongside them to
develop a knowledge of the Japanese and a deep and combined hatred for them and their
practises. This invariably led to some very interesting stories and we will now highlight
the best of them for you in this video. Also it’s worth remembering for these stories that
the Gurkha preferred method of fighting was with their Kukri and these feature pretty
heavily in most of these stories, including our first one, which comes from the accounts
of a Gurkha soldier who fought the Japanese in the China-India-Burma theatre of war.
"Suddenly the Jemadar stood up and screamed, 'Gorkhali ayo!' We all yelled in unison,
and followed him into the Japanese trenches. We rushed through the maze of narrow trenches,
thrusting, slashing and chopping at the surprised enemy. Some tried to withdraw into the bunkers,
but ran into other Gurkhas and were chopped down instantly. Then, they counterattacked from the
western slope. One Japanese commander, with his sword drawn, rushed out from the main bunker
screaming, "Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!" His men, with fixed bayonets also charged and tried to
flank us. We jumped out of the trenches to meet them. The Japanese officer cut down one Gurkha,
then another. But then, just as quickly, the Jemadar sprang forward and decapitated
the enemy officer. Then the Jemadar yelled, "Gorkhali ayo! No prisoners!" And we responded,
"No prisoners! Gorkhali ayo! The resultant collisions were of steel against steel,
steel against flesh and flesh against flesh. It was a killing frenzy among fanatic warriors. Our
Lord Shiva, goddess Kali and Yama witnessed this brutal hand to hand fighting. It lasted about 15
minutes. Many Japanese escaped down the south slope, leaving 125 of their dead behind. Our
platoon lost two men killed and three wounded. Our faces and uniforms were drenched with blood."
This was one of the many testaments of bravery the Gurkhas showed in WW2. Another source of
bravery from these men came from the extremely close relationship they had with Britain as
stated before. The Gurkha men were known to form extremely close bonds of comradery with their
British Officers. In one infamous instance in Burma, a Gurkha unit observed a dozen half starved
Japanese who appeared willing to surrender. The British Lt Col George Balinger and several of his
men then left cover to bring the Japanese in, when in true Japanese fashion, the fanatical men who
were pretending to surrender threw themselves flat on the ground with their machine guns
tearing into Balinger and his unsuspecting men. The Gurkha unit that was in the vicinity and who
had witnessed understandably became outraged, and the Japanese were quickly and summarily
killed by thee Gurkhas. Although Gurkhas weren’t terribly fond of taking Japanese
prisoners in the first place, for the Gurkha men of the 1st Battalion 3rd Rifles, it would
never happen again and they never took another Japanese captive for the remainder of the war.
All in all, a total of 11 Gurkhas won Victoria crosses for Gallantry and courage in the face of
adversity in World War 2. One of the most famous, and one that many of you have likely heard of
was Rifleman Lachhiman Gurung, who also fought in Burma. The citation for his award goes like this:
"At Taungdaw, in Burma, on the west bank of the Irrawaddy, on the night of 12/13th may,
1945, Rifleman Lachhiman Gurung was manning the most forward post of his platoon. At 01.20hours,
at least 200 enemy assaulted his company position. The brunt of the attack was borne by rifleman
Lachhiman Gurung's section and by his own post in particular. This post dominated a jungle
path leading up into his platoon locality. Before assaulting, the enemy hurled innumerable grenades
at the position from close range. One grenade fell on the lip of Rifleman Lachhiman Gurung's trench;
he at once grasped it and hurled it back at the enemy. Almost immediately another grenade fell
directly inside the trench. Again this rifleman snatched it up and threw it back. A third grenade
then fell just in front of the trench. He attempted to throw it back, but it exploded in
his hand, blowing off his fingers, shattering his right arm and severely wounding him in the face,
body and right leg. His two comrades were also badly wounded and lay helpless in the bottom of
the trench. The enemy, screaming and shouting, now formed up shoulder to shoulder and attempted to
rush the position by sheer weight of numbers. rifleman Lachhiman Gurung, regardless of his
wounds, fired and loaded his rifle with his left hand, maintaining a continuous and steady rate of
fire. Wave after wave of fanatical attacks were thrown in by the enemy over the next four hours
and all-were repulsed with heavy casualties. For four hours after being severely wounded
Rifleman Lachhiman Gurung remained alone at his post, waiting with perfect calm for each attack,
which he met with fire at point-blank range from his rifle, determined not to give one
inch of ground. Of the 87 enemy dead counted in the immediate vicinity of the company locality,
31 lay in front of this rifleman's section, the key to the whole position. Had the enemy
succeeded in over-running and occupying Rifleman Lachhiman Gurung's trench,
the whole of the reverse slope position would have been dominated and turned. This Rifleman,
by his magnificent example, so inspired his comrades to resist to the last, that,
although surrounded and cut off for three days and two nights, they held and smashed every attack.
His outstanding gallantry and extreme devotion to duty, in the face of overwhelming odds,
were the main factors in defeating the enemy." So all in all, it’s safe to say the Gurkhas were
some of the most formidable men of the war and it wasn’t only the Japanese that they
gave nightmares to. They are the best of friends and worst of enemies and there are plenty more
stories in North African and Italian theatre as well as recent stories in Afghanistan too,
however in this video I of course focused on the heroics them in the Asian theatre of war.
If you would like a part 2 of the war machines known as Gurkhas be sure to let me know in the
comment section below that you enjoyed this video and any personal stories of Gurkhas you may have.