Rambo Gurkha in solo Taliban blitz

[Bang Galore]

By JOHN KAY and DAVID WILLETTS

Published: 04 Nov 2010

A LONE Gurkha has fought off the Taliban in a Rambo-style hail of fire.

Heroic Sergeant Dipprasad Pun HOISTED a giant machine gun off its mount and HELD it as he blazed away at a dozen attackers.

He is believed to have killed three and wounded several others with the gun - weighing well over 30lb and hammering out 750 rounds a minute.

A source said: "It would have taken a superhuman effort to hold the gun and fire it. Apart from its weight, the recoil is colossal."

The 15-minute stand came after Sgt Dip, 31, was left at a checkpoint in Nahr-e Saraj, Helmand.

Spotting a Taliban attack, he ran on to a roof to man a 7.62mm general purpose machine gun mounted on a tripod.

As the insurgents came over the wall Sgt Dip realised he could not lower the gun enough to hit them. So he yanked out the pins locking it down - CHUCKING the heavy tripod at the enemy - and lifted it up.

He also beat off the attackers with grenades and an SA80 rifle before reinforcements arrived.

Sgt Dip, of 1st Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles, would not speak about the September 17 battle. And it is too early to speculate if he will win a medal as citations have not been written. But Army spokesman Lt Col David Eastman said: "He is a credit to his unit."

Heroes' proud medal history

THE Gurkhas have a distinguished history of Victoria Cross winners.

Rifleman Lachhiman Gurung took on 200 Japanese troops while manning a forward post in Burma in May 1945.

During the battle, which left him blinded, he threw two grenades back at the enemy - but a third detonated, blowing off his arm.

Lachhiman, now 92, continued to fire his rifle with his good arm for four hours, killing at least 30. He retired on disability grounds in 1946 and is wheelchair-bound in Hounslow, West London.

Rifleman Tul Bahadur Pun, 21, led a lone charge against a Japanese machine gun nest after his comrades were slaughtered in Burma in June 1944.

He killed three enemy soldiers and chased off five others.

Now 87, he then used two captured machine guns and ammunition to provide cover for his platoon following behind.

Rambo-style Gurkha in solo Taliban blitz | The Sun |News|Campaigns|Our Boys

 

[Urbanized Greyhound]

The Gurkha martial prowess and fighting spirit is absolutely unmatched in the world ......its a great thing that the IA comprises of hundreds of thousands of these fearless warriors

 

[TechLahore]

The Gurkha martial prowess and fighting spirit is absolutely unmatched in the world

Is that a rhetorical statement or do you have a quantitative record or objective data to establish this?

The Gurkhas have a great tradition, but I think calling them unmatched might be significantly over the top.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

By JOHN KAY and DAVID WILLETTS

Published: 04 Nov 2010

A LONE Gurkha has fought off the Taliban in a Rambo-style hail of fire.

Heroic Sergeant Dipprasad Pun HOISTED a giant machine gun off its mount and HELD it as he blazed away at a dozen attackers.

He is believed to have killed three and wounded several others with the gun - weighing well over 30lb and hammering out 750 rounds a minute.

A source said: "It would have taken a superhuman effort to hold the gun and fire it. Apart from its weight, the recoil is colossal."

The 15-minute stand came after Sgt Dip, 31, was left at a checkpoint in Nahr-e Saraj, Helmand.

Spotting a Taliban attack, he ran on to a roof to man a 7.62mm general purpose machine gun mounted on a tripod.

As the insurgents came over the wall Sgt Dip realised he could not lower the gun enough to hit them. So he yanked out the pins locking it down - CHUCKING the heavy tripod at the enemy - and lifted it up.

He also beat off the attackers with grenades and an SA80 rifle before reinforcements arrived.

Sgt Dip, of 1st Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles, would not speak about the September 17 battle. And it is too early to speculate if he will win a medal as citations have not been written. But Army spokesman Lt Col David Eastman said: "He is a credit to his unit."



Rambo-style Gurkha in solo Taliban blitz | The Sun |News|Campaigns|Our Boys

A little more information about Lachhiman Gurung:
After three days in a field hospital, he was evacuated to a hospital in India. Doctors tried to save his right arm, but finally had to amputate it. He also lost sight in his left eye. While in hosiptal, he learnt that he had been cited for the Victoria Cross. He thought that there was some mistake: 'I was not brave, but I saw all my friends wounded, and then I looked at my hand and I was very, very angry'. That was his explanation.
At the investiture parade on 19th December 1945 outside the Red Fort, six Victoria Crosses and one George Cross were presented. Lachhiman Gurung was the only living recipient.
His regiment, the 8th Gorkha Rifles is now part of the Indian Army. Every year his battalion celebrates Taungdaw Day, and Lachhiman wearing his old uniform with one sleeve empty has been an honoured guest at some of them.

Another story about a Gorkha soldier bears recounting: the "bitter-sweet" story of the escape of Havildar Man Bahadur Rai of the 1/7th Gorkhas. He escaped from a Japanese prison camp in southern Burma and walked 600 miles in 5 months till he returned to the safety of his own lines. Interrogated by British intelligence officers about his remarkable feat, Man Bahadur told them that the Burmese had not helped him . In any case, he distrusted them and he did not speak any Burmese besides. But all that did not matter, for he had a map, which before his capture had been given to him by a British soldier in exchange for his cap-badge, and he marked his route every day with a pencil stub. he produced the much soiled and creased map. The intelligence officers stared at it in awe. It was a street map of London.
It's not easy to be a Gorkha!

Source Ref: The Gurkhas- Byron Farwell

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Is that a rhetorical statement or do you have a quantitative record or objective data to establish this?

The Gurkhas have a great tradition, but I think calling them unmatched might be significantly over the top.

It is indeed difficult to particularly attribute valour or uncommon courage to any particular group of people. However the probability seems to be definitely higher in some groups; the Gorkhas being one among them.

 

[VSS]

Best in the world

 

[Irfan Baloch]

It is indeed difficult to particularly attribute valour or uncommon courage to any particular group of people. However the probability seems to be definitely higher in some groups; the Gorkhas being one among them.

very true,

by the way the warrior races exist in every culture

Rajput and Jaats are the ones that faced off the Greeks
the people of Pakistani tribal areas are also exceptional
name any tribe be it Mehsods, Afradis etc etc.

the Hazara in Pakistan & Afghanistan are the decedents of Mongols and their appetite for war is also well known. Not to forget a Baloch Marri

I am telling you, that guy is so devout and motivated that he can outlive any human being in the harshest of environments and pressure. His endurance and resolve is legendary. They are the bread and butter of the BLA insurgency. For them the command of their tribal chief is the word of god and there is no room for argument.

We can go on if we move to central Asia be it Chechens or the Vikings & Normans.
Not to forget the Samurai. This debate reminds me of the deadly warrior series on the TV.

Coming back to Gurkhas, their gallantry is a well established fact. From the 2nd world war to the present day.

I think it was Naik Agansing Rai VC who single handed held off the Janapese attack in the Burma front after all his company was killed. He beat off the attackers on his own with the rifle and when the relief arrived it was established the death count of the Japanese killed by him were over 300.

 

[paritosh]

well I can talk about jaats...they love fighting...!
most of the boxers India has produced have been jaats...best wrestlers of today are jaats...it's just that they love fighting...

 

[TaimiKhan]

What has the news anything to do with Pakistan's Strategic & Geopolitical Issues ???

Why is it so hard for members to distinguish between which thread or news item goes in which section ???

 

[KS]

If a man says he is not afraid of anything,he is either lying or he is a Gurkha - immortal words from FM Sam Manekshaw.

 

[IND151]

Gurkhas are great!

 

[Masterchief]

Wow that guy reminds me of william wallace

 

[RPK]

In the two World Wars the Gurkha Brigade suffered 43,000 casualties, and to date it has won 26 Victoria Crosses - 13 awarded to Gurkhas and 13 to British Officers.

The most recent Victoria Cross was awarded to the then Lance Corporal Rambahadur Limbu in November 1965 during the Borneo Confrontation

The Victoria Cross - British Army Website

 

[RPK]

Is that a rhetorical statement or do you have a quantitative record or objective data to establish this?

The Gurkhas have been involved in almost every conflict that the British Army has deployed to in the last 200 years. We do not seek publicity - we like to work through quiet professionalism, maintaining the highest standards on operations, whatever they may bring.

Our battle honours are proudly displayed on the Regimental bass drum, but they do not tell the whole story. The men in the battalion today and their forebears have served with distinction in many conflicts not listed such as Cyprus, Borneo, Malaya, the Falklands, Ivory Coast, Congo, East Timor, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

The battalion's most recent operational deployment has been to Afghanistan on Operation HERRICK. 1 RGR is the current deployed battalion and will be in theatre until November 2010.

RGR on Operations - British Army Website

 

[LEO99]

there is an old saying in nepali -"yo nepali sir uchali ,sansare ma lumkanchan"