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Originally Posted by celtan
Klaatu Barada Nikto: These guys are ballsy!
OTOH, gurkhas soiled their reputation in the Malvinas/Falklands, reportedly killing wounded prisoners.
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It's always good to try and check for some reference before making such an obviously inflammatory claim Manuel.
It's hardly fair to sully the reputation of these brave men without being certain of the facts is it?
This is especially relevant when the claims pertain to events in the living memory of many British and Argentinian forumites.
I cannot find any reports of Gurkha's murdering POWs in the Falklands conflict.
Here's what I found:
Soldier magazine ran a photo-story of the 1/7GR preparing for deployment to the South Atlantic as part of 5 Airborne Brigade's contribution to Op Corporate. Titled "Mountain Men Prepare To Show Their Steel" it showed images of Gurkhas sharpening their Kukhri knives and charging etc. These images were later reproduced in the Argentine military publictaion under the headline "Los Barbaros Gurkhos" (The barbarian Gurkhas) which painted a picture of doped-up, knife wielding savages in the pay of the Crown who would kill prisoners. The Argentine article had an unintentional effect of scaring some of their own soldiery witless.
There was a famous incident where a Gurkha recce patrol stumbled onto an Argentine anti-aircraft troop and by simply drawing a kukhri and waving it aggressively, got them all to surrender. The knife was later auctioned off for charity, raising £300.00.
That said, it is also important to understand how the Gurkha's
do opperate.
I think this recent article and the quotes from military sources at the end gives a good overview of these brave, dedicated men and how the innate cultural differences between them and their western allies can cause 'raised eyebrows'.
Gurkha brings back Taliban warlords head.