Gurung ignored his many wounds and carried on firing with his left hand – a considerable feat, as the bolt-action rifles of the day were made for right-handed use. "Come and fight a Gurkha!" he yelled, as wave after wave of Japanese troops tried for four hours to overrun the position. They failed. The 4th/8th Gurkhas held out for another 48 hours until relieved on 15 May.
Which reminded me of this from Quartered Safe Out Here, and I wonder if Fraser was writing of the 4th/8th?
There was another occasion when a Gurkha platoon close to us held a position against two companies of Japanese who wouldn’t take no for answer, but kept coming time and again, yelling “Banzai!”; the Gurkhas just stood fast and stopped them until the position was littered with Jap dead.
When the Gurkhas were finally withdrawn it was discovered that they hadn’t a single round of ammunition among them.
2 comments:
'Jai Maha Kali, Ayo Gorkhali' - 'Praise Goddess Kali, The Gurkhas are here.'.
No better friend, no worse foe.
Japanese got lucky, the kukri knives had not been drawn.
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