Gurkhas at War

This is the first time the Gurkha soldier's voice has been heard at length. This work presents historical overviews of Gurkha operations. It includes vivid, first-person descriptions spanning more than sixty years of warfare. "Gurkhas at War", the result of in-depth interviews conducted by editors J. P. Cross and Buddhiman Gurung, offers these remarkable soldiers a voice in print for the first time. These first-person narratives centre on the sixty-year period from the outbreak of World War II to the confrontation in East Timor, including the lengthy battles against the Japanese in the Burmese jungle, campaigns against the Communists in Malaya and Hong Kong, as well as more recent deployments in the Falklands Campaign and Gulf War. We also gain insight into the changes wrought by Indian independence, which forcibly divided the Gurkha allegiance between the ex-colony and her old master. The tactless mismanagement of the various 'handovers', and the punitive measures directed at many Gurkhas who disputed their resettlement, remain a painful memory for those subjected to the change. The editors - who travelled 5,000 miles to rescue material from surviving soldiers - provide a thorough introduction to Gurkha culture, a historical overview of each campaign fought, and record some of the peculiarities of their encounters with these most resilient of soldiers. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------