From myrepublica.com.....

quote:

Lone Nepali Gorkha who subdued 40 train robbers
MANOJ ADHIKARI/SANTOSH POKHAREL

POKHARA, Jan 13: Gorkha soldiers have long been known the world over for their valor and these khukuri-wielding warriors winning the British many a battle have become folklore.

A retired Indian Gorkha soldier recently revisited those glory days when he thwarted 40 robbers, killing three of them and injuring eight others, with his khukuri during a train journey. He is in line to receive three gallantry awards from the Indian government.

Slave girl Morgiana in the Arabian Nights used her cunning to finish off Ali Baba´s 40 thieves, but Bishnu Shrestha of Baidam, Pokhara-6 did not have time to plot against the 40 train robbers. He, however, made good use of his khukuri to save the chastity of a girl and hundreds of thousands in loot.

Shrestha, who was in the Maurya Express to Gorakhpur from Ranchi on September 2 while returning home following voluntary retirement from the Indian army--saved the girl who was going to be raped by the robbers in front of her hapless parents, and in doing so won plaudits from everybody.

The Indian government is to decorate Shrestha with its Sourya Chakra, Bravery Award and Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Medal and the 35-year-old is leaving for India Saturday to receive the first of the awards on the occasion of India´s Republic Day on January 26.

“The formal announcement of the awards will be made on Republic Day and on Independence Day on August 15,” said Shrestha, whose father Gopal Babu also retired from the same 7/8 Platoon of the Gorkha Regiment around 29 years ago.

His regiment has already given him a cash award of Indian rupees 50,000, and decided to terminate his voluntary retirement. He will get the customary promotion after receiving the medals. The Indian government will also announce a cash bounty for him and special discounts on international air tickets and domestic train tickets.

The band of about 40 robbers, some of whom were travelling as passengers, stopped the train in the Chittaranjan jungles in West Bengal around midnight. Shrestha-- who had boarded the train at Ranchi in Jharkhand, the place of his posting--was in seat no. 47 in coach AC3.

“They started snatching jewelry, cell phones, cash, laptops and other belongings from the passengers,” Shrestha recalled. The soldier had somehow remained a silent spectator amidst the melee, but not for long. He had had enough when the robbers stripped an 18-year-old girl sitting next to him and tried to rape her right in front of her parents. He then took out his khukuri and took on the robbers.

“The girl cried for help, saying ´You are a soldier, please save a sister´,” Shrestha recalled. “I prevented her from being raped, thinking of her as my own sister,” he added. He took one of the robbers under control and then started to attack the others. He said the rest of the robbers fled after he killed three of them with his khukuri and injured eight others.

During the scuffle he received serious blade injury to his left hand while the girl also had a minor cut on her neck. “They had carried out their robbery with swords, blades and pistols. The pistols may have been fake as they didn´t open fire,” he surmised.

The train resumed its journey after some 20 minutes and a horde of media persons and police were present when it reached Chittaranja station. Police arrested the eight injured dacoits and recovered around 400,000 Indian rupees in cash, 40 gold necklaces, 200 cell phones, 40 laptops and other items that the fleeing robbers dropped in the train.

Police escorted Shrestha to the Railways Hospital after the rescued girl told them about his heroic deed. Mainstream Indian media carried the story. The parents of the girl, who was going for her MBBS studies, also announced a cash award of Indian rupees 300,000 for him but he has not met them since.

“Even the veins and arteries in my left hand were slit but the injury has now healed after two months of neurological treatment at the Command Hospital in Kolkata,” he said showing the scar. “Fighting the enemy in battle is my duty as a soldier; taking on the dacoits in the train was my duty as a human being,” said the Indian army nayak, who has been given two guards during his month-long holidays in Nepal.

“I am proud to be able to prove that a Gorkha soldier with a khukuri is really a handful. I would have been a meek spectator had I not carried that khukuri,” he said.

He still finds it hard to believe that he took on 40 armed robbers alone. “They may have feared that more of my army friends were traveling with me and fled after fighting me for around 20 minutes,” he explained.

Knife fighting for 20 minutes.....WOW!!!!

BRAVO!!!

Well done that man.

Hopefully some of the injuries were caused by cutting off their balls.......and dick.

I'm going to give my kukri a big hug !!

I'm glad there are still real men in this world.

Have read of their history, to them it is the right thing to do.
.......
Somebody should invent a new word.
A lot like the Kagnew.

the witnesses at the sandbar fight might have given the nod to Bowie...

Rich

I think not.

Bowie killed one man at the Sandbar fight, while defending himself after being shot (but in fact, he and one of his side, Cuny started the post-duel fight), with about 3 (one was killed early on so it was 4 on 5 really) other men on his side almost all of them fighting both the 5 men on the other side of the duel and to help Bowie, In fact, there apparently were very few knives involved, Bowies and Wright's sword are all that are mentioned.

This ghurka, with no help, voluntarily attacked 40 armed men and killed at least 3, all apparently armed, while cutting 8 others badly enough that they were incapacitated and could not flee.

There is a substantial difference in the circumstances. Fighting for your life after being wounded is not on the same order as voluntarily entering a fight against seemingly impossible odds to save another. None of this is taking anything away from Bowie's prowess but the bravery level, as well as the fighting ability level goes to the ghurka. A century and a half of training makes all the difference but if any of the several people who fought and wounded Bowie that day had been a ghurka, certainly including Wright, the man he killed, the Bowie knife would just be another butcher knife, since Bowie would have been dead and headless in short order.

BTW if anyone really wants to know as much as can be known about the Sandbar fight, here is an excellent account of the reasons and personalities involved.....

Bowie and Sandbar Fight

The Ghurkas are like the Selliganesse(spl) in WWI, ask the people who saw them work.
They are knife fighters by culture.

A small quick man with a large sharp knife in a tight place would be a fearsome opponent, as this man proved.

quote:

Originally posted by SGraves155:
A small quick man with a large sharp knife in a tight place would be a fearsome opponent, as this man proved.

Who said he was small?

A good big man will beat a good small man every time.

John Fredrick;
"A small quick man"
If you read about the Ghurka's.....
And about the big man.......
Shack the size of Special Ops guys..........big men are rare these days.

quote:

Originally posted by John Frederick:

quote:

Originally posted by SGraves155:
A small quick man with a large sharp knife in a tight place would be a fearsome opponent, as this man proved.

Who said he was small?

A good big man will beat a good small man every time.

Maybe in strength contests, absolutely not in quickness. More mass means more inertia to overcome.

257,

not too rare. The average age of the Ranger School graduates in 2009 was 21. Average weight, 186lbs. Average height, six feet, one inch.

quote:

Originally posted by SGraves155:

quote:

Originally posted by John Frederick:

quote:

Originally posted by SGraves155:
A small quick man with a large sharp knife in a tight place would be a fearsome opponent, as this man proved.

Who said he was small?

A good big man will beat a good small man every time.

Maybe in strength contests, absolutely not in quickness. More mass means more inertia to overcome.

Not sure I agree with that, it depends on the strength to weight ratio of the muscles.

Big does not always mean slow.

That's why there are weight divisions in fighting sports.

idaho;
I said Special Ops.
As to weight classes in fights...... When was there a really heavy guy in a boxing match.

.
Anyway....the first comment about a small man in a fight was about the Ghurkas, who are short in stature but are known for their ability to carry heavy loads.
.
I have a book on the Ghurkas if anyone is interested. They have quite a history.
They have a some British officers but the Ghurkas decide if they are good enough. Some years none from Sandhurst are accepted.
.
They fight with knives, they grow up with them, use them all their lives.

Some more details on the ghurkas and a few more exploits.

Former Chief of staff of the Indian Army, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw once famously said about Gurkhas:

“ If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or is a Gurkha. ”

The Gurkha war cry is "Jai Mahakali, Ayo Gorkhali" which literally translates to "Glory be to the Goddess of War, here come the Gorkhas!"

Unlike the general impression, ghurkas are not simply Nepalese but ethnically, Gurkhas who are presently serving in the British armed forces are primarily Indo-Tibeto-Mongolians . Gurkhas serving in the Indian Armed Forces are of both groups, Indo-Tibeto-Mongolian and ethnic Rajput. Gurkhas of Tibeto-Mongolian origin mostly belong to the Rai, Limbu, Gurung, Magar, Tamang, and Kiranti ethnic groups. Gurkhas are mainly Hindu.

Not sure of source, copied from another forum: (bold emphasis mine and some explanatory notes in parenthesis by me)

Capt Manoj Kumar Pandey led his platoon with rare courage during operation Vijay (this was an invasion by the Pakistanis on what the Indians considered to be there territory in the Kashmir, sometimes called the Kargil conflict, the described actions have some more physical significance when it is noted that most of the area is between 16 and 18,000 feet above sea level). On the night of 2/3 July, 1999 in Kargil Sector, 1/11 GR's progress, on to its final objective, was halted by a determined enemy. Capt Pandey, sizing up the situation, led his platoon along a narrow ridge and in a display of rare courage charged at the enemy through a hail of bullets. Wounded in the shoulder and leg he pressed on his solitary charge with determination till he closed in and, in a ferocious hand-to-hand combat, cleared the first bunker. Inspired by his spontaneous valour, the troops charged at the balance enemy and fell upon them. Unmindful of his grievous wounds, Capt Pandey rushed from bunker to bunker to clear them. He succumbed to his injuries but not before the last of the enemy had been annihilated.

Hav Gyan Bahadur Tamang was part of the CO's column of attack on the night during operation Vijay in 1999. The hair-raising story of his exploits during the attack is exemplary.

Hav Gyan Bahadur was ordered to move behind an enemy position to cut them off from their reinforcements. The enemy spotted the movement and in the fire-fight that ensued, Hav Gyan Bahadur and his buddy were separated from others. In the exchange of fire, both were hit. While his colleague made the supreme sacrifice, Gyan Bahadur fell backwards and rolled downhill some twenty metres before he passed out with blood oozing from his neck. A light drizzle revived him the next morning and he came to his senses with the sound of automatic weapons and artillery shells landing all around him. He was soon spotted and eight Pakistani soldiers began to fire on him with their AK-47 assault rifles while he dashed around from one boulder to another. Displaying remarkable shooting skills under extreme pressure and with utmost fire discipline, Hav Gyan Bahadur shot dead three Pakistanis.

Soon dense fog enveloped the area. Taking advantage of poor visibility, Hav Gyan Bahadur made good his escape to rejoin the battalion. Bleeding profusely, low on ammunition, his rifle severely damaged, thirsty and hungry, he tore his vest and tied it around his neck to reduce the loss of blood. He wandered around in the fog till he fell asleep exhausted. The next morning, he woke up with a start startling two Pakistani soldiers who quickly turned on him and asked him to surrender at gunpoint. Displaying remarkable presence of mind, he employed the oldest ruse in the world by yelling and waving at an imaginary point behind the Pakistanis. As they turned around, he pulled out his khukri and slit their throat with two deft swishes.

However, the commotion brought out more Pakistanis and Hav Gyan Bahadur was fired upon for over half an hour from several directions. He dived into a small depression and waited with baited breath for the firing to end. After some time, two Pakistanis including a JCO cautiously approached him. Pretending to be dead, Gyan Bahadur lay absolutely still, his khukri hidden under his body. As one of the Pakistanis kicked him to see if he was dead, he sprang at them with "Jai Mahakali Ayo Gorkhali" and, before the petrified Pakistanis could react, he hacked them to death, ran, rolled, jumped and rolled downhill as bullets whizzed around him. At night, he crept under a bush, chewed its tender leaves for energy before he fell asleep, completely exhausted.

Suffering from acute loss of blood, dehydration, high fever and complete exhaustion, Hav Gyan Bahadur woke up the next morning unsure of his bearings. Lacking the strength to make another attempt to rejoin his battalion on Khalubar, he half walked, half stumbled downhill. He spotted two burly Pakistanis walking towards him carrying grenades and ammunition and chatting. There was nowhere to run. He hid behind a boulder close to the track and, with a superhuman effort, once again shouting the battlecry pounced on them with his ever-ready khukri. Startled, the Pakistanis dropped their loads and ran . Tired and on the verge of despair, Hav Gyan Bahadur continued his rather eventful journey downhill till he finally stumbled into the battalion's rear near Yaldor village.

The soldiers of 1/11 Gorkha Rifles while mopping up, found the bodies of all the seven Pakistani soldiers who fell to Hav Gyan Bahadur Tamang's khukri.

In end September 1967, the Seventh Battalion had temporarily relieved 10 JAK Rifles in Chola Sector to enable them to celebrate their Raising Day on October 1, 1967.

A day earlier, there had been a minor scuffle between the Sikh sentries of the JAK Rifles and their Chinese counterparts on the flat patch of icy land of about five metres on the unmarked boundary. It had a boulder about 30 metres high in the centre of the narrow crest, which marked the dividing line, according to the watershed principle. Three Indians and an equal number of Chinese sentries were positioned on either side of the boulder at a distance of about two metres from each other, more or less eye-ball to eye-ball. During the fisticuffs, the Chinese sentry was roughed up and lost a button of his tunic. The Chinese were, therefore, smarting under the temporary reverse.

To quote from The Path of Glory:

"Naib Subedar Gyan Bahadur Limbu was having a heated argument with his counterpart on the sentry post during which he rested his right foot on the boulder under dispute. Gyan Bahadur put his foot back and challenged them. Events moved at a fast pace. By this time, the Chinese had taken up positions, presumably because their Post Commander had already made up his mind to escalate the incident and one of them bayoneted the Junior Commissioned Officer wounding him in the arm. Thereafter, the Kirantis retaliated in a befitting manner. The arms of the Chinese soldier who had dared hit the Junior Commissioned Officer were chopped off with a khukri.(note that this is with both sides fully armed with rifles, etc) This led to the commencement of firing. (No doubt!)Rifleman Krishna Bahadur led a charge. His body was later returned with full military honours by the Chinese (the Commander himself accompanied his last remains), who commanded his bravery stating that he had fought like a tiger. Rifleman Debi Prasad Limbu, dexterously wielding his khukri in close-quarter battle, did five Chinese soldiers to death before being mortally wounded. Lt RS Rathore, Company Officer though wounded, continued to inspire his men refusing to give in, got up to lead his men when he was again hit in the chest and died; Lt Col KB Joshi, the Commanding Officer and Hav Tinjong Lama, the RCL detachment Commander were outstanding amongst others".

My brother sometimes employed retired Ghurka's on his ship for security. I am told they are the real deal and follow orders well. No one has yet to take them on successfully.

As a big guy I'll agree that speed wise a big person is never as fast as a small guy in the same shape. My dad warned me of that when I started growing. I did karate for years and I would always prefer a guy my size (in my "best shape" ever I was 6' 215lbs) or bigger to a guy 50lbs lighter.

I'm sure there are some big guys out there that are really fast. And you can't say that a little guy will always beat a big guy, I just know I much prefer a bigger slow guy with a knife to a little fast fucker with a knife.

Red