Peter Duffell - Gurkha Odyssey

Gurkha Odyssey

Campaigning for the Crown

Peter Duffell

With some illustrations

by

Ken Howard OBE, RA

First published in Great Britain in 2019 by

Pen & Sword Military

An imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

Yorkshire Philadelphia

Copyright Peter Duffell 2019

ISBN 978 1 52673 057 2

eISBN 978 1 526 73 058 9

Mobi ISBN 978 1 526 73 059 6

The right of Peter Duffell to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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Contains public sector information licensed under the

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For all Goorkhas

Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot

But hell remember with advantages

What feats he did that day.

Shakespeare, King Henry V

Nepal and Anglo-Nepal War, 181416

Afghanistan and Indias NW Frontier showing tribal areas and major battles

Battle of Neuve Chapelle, 1915

North Africa, 19403

Battle of Wadi Akarit, 1943

Malaya, 194866

The Borneo frontier and Brunei

Brunei Town Centre, December 1962

Hong Kong

M y old friend Ken Howard, now a distinguished Royal Academician, visited my Regiment and Nepal in 1979 and graphically recorded something of the Gurkha soldier, his character and background. Hopefully his drawings and paintings will help to illuminate the Gurkha story, and I am grateful to him for allowing me to publish them.

In putting this book together I must thank, firstly, Gavin Edgerley-Harris, Director of the Gurkha Museum at Winchester who, together with his staff, allowed me to dive deep into the Gurkha archive and library to fish, gannet-like, for facts and stories, for maps and photographs and to check that my accounts were accurate. Colonel James Robinson and his staff at Headquarters, the Brigade of Gurkhas, were ever helpful in ensuring that I understood some of the contemporary nuances of Gurkha politics and arranged for me to visit India and Nepal.

From my Regiment, Colonel Denis Wood, whose keen sense of Gurkha history knows no bounds was generous in sharing his encyclopaedic knowledge. The distinguished 2 nd Goorkha officer, Captain Bhagtasing Pun, who sadly died aged 101 while I was writing this book, and his son, my good friend Major Bishnu Pun, both travelled and served with me at different times through part of my journey. They explained many things about their service and campaigning, and about their fellow countrymen and Nepal, that I might otherwise have only half known or understood. Another 2 nd Goorkha, Major General Craig Lawrence, generously shared his collection of Gurkha images with me. I am grateful to them.

Lisa Choegyal, who has written extensively about Nepal and has lived in Kathmandu for over thirty years, gave me generous help and encouragement, as did her colleague Marcus Cotton at Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge. They explained to me something of the dynamics of Nepal. Richard Morris, our Ambassador in Kathmandu, and Colonel Ian Logan, the Defence Attach, were also generous with their assistance and hospitality. Dr Mark Watson from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, while searching for plants in Nepal, guided me round the British cemetery in Kathmandu and helped me discover its secrets. In Delhi, Brigadier Mark Goldsack, the British Defence Adviser, kindly looked after me and, together with Ben Stretton, Jonathan Green and the noted Indian military historian, Squadron Leader Rana Chhina, helped me retrace the dangerous and costly paths taken by Charles Reid and his Sirmoor Battalion of Goorkhas during the Mutiny in 1857. Rupert Litherland of the 10 th Gurkha Rifles kindly allowed me to draw on his research into his Regiments involvement on the Hong Kong border during Maos Cultural Revolution in that hot summer of 1967.

Many of the Gurkhas with whom I happily served, and who are now scattered to all parts of the Gurkha diaspora, patiently recounted to me aspects of their lives and service that I had not appreciated before, including Captain Karnabahadur Thapa and Major Krishnabahadur Ale whose father, Captain Manbahadur Ale, campaigned bravely with me alongside Captain Karnabahadur Roka and Lieutenant Kharaksing Pun. Major Hitman Gurung and Captains Ramkaji Gurung, Ganesh Gurung and Dudman Gurung were all fellow 2 nd Goorkhas who met up with me at various places in Nepal. They reminded me of incidents in our service together that I had forgotten (or never knew!).

Major James Devall and Captain Mahendra Phagami of the Royal Gurkha Rifles allowed me to attend their recruitment and selection of todays Gurkha soldiers in Nepal. Major General Gez Strickland, Regimental Colonel of the Royal Gurkha Rifles, kindly shared his thoughts about the contemporary Regiment, and Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Conroy let me visit his 1 st Battalion at Shorncliffe, wander round and talk to his soldiers at will, before they set off yet again for Afghanistan.

My Goorkha contemporary, Brigadier Christopher Bullock, was always helpful, and his brilliant book, Britains Gurkhas , was a constant reference point. Christopher Lavender, a fellow 2 nd Goorkha, and his wife Griselda looked after me in Hong Kong and helped me to rediscover some Gurkha military sites. David Scotson, also a Goorkha, provided some goodhumoured Gurkha editorial support. Major General Bryan Dutton, the last Commander British Forces in Hong Kong before the handover to China in 1997, told me of the arrangements he put in place for that event. My colleague, General Zhou Borong of the Peoples Liberation Army, provided some valuable input, as did Sir William Purves, former Chairman of HSBC, with whom I sat on Hong Kongs Executive Council. Field Marshals Sir John Chapple and Lord Bramall, both of whom feature in this book, gave me warm encouragement.

My daughter Rachel, an accomplished journalist and editor based in Hong Kong, was a constant source of professional advice and encouragement, as was my son Charlie with his sublime IT skills.

In thanking them all for their generous help I naturally accept that responsibility for the accuracy of historical facts and their interpretation, and for any stylistic faults and other horrors that may litter the text, lies entirely with me. I have diligently searched for owners of photographic copyright and if I have failed to acknowledge due ownership I can only apologise. It was my friend Henry Wilson, commissioning editor of my publishers, who persuaded me that I had a story worth telling and told me to commit it to paper. He patiently kept faith with this amateur historian and ever optimistically guided me through the publishing process. I am grateful to him and his colleagues and to my wise and eagle-eyed editor, George Chamier.