The Gurkhas: From the hardships of poverty in Nepal, to Britain’s most feared warriors

U6th Pupil Charlie gives an insight into The Gurkahs.

The Gurkhas are a worldwide unique strength the British Army carries. Though they wear the same uniform and are expected to carry out the same duties as of those recruited from the UK and commonwealth countries, they carry a sense of pride of that only a Gurkha can carry. A Gurkha has the ultimate pride in knowing that they have come from the humblest of backgrounds globally in Nepal, a Low-Income Country, to then overcome the obstacle of the most selective nonspecial forces selection in the world, to then put on the Kukri beret and carry out and fulfil a history of based on a motto, “Better to die than live a coward”. The Gurkhas have served in the British Army since 1815, during the annexation of Nepal where their bravery was noted, and since then over 46,000 have died serving our country.

The background of these young Nepali men is something remarkable and shouldn’t be overlooked. Nepal itself, while it has developed hugely in recent years, continues to struggle in developing out of the poverty line, with an average wage 10-15 times below that of the UK. The country itself provides a unique geographical and social environment that produces people distinct from that of British society. The natural high altitude of the Himalayas (including Mt Everest) produces an excellent natural quality of aerobic fitness. The agricultural sector should be highlighted where many families are working long physically enduring hours on steep terrain in cattle and cultivation, many of whom doing so to survive. This environment creates a distinctive quality of the Nepali people, one built on self-acceptance of their reality in life, a self-discipline in their work, but it also creates some of the happiest in the world as no one is better than each other but also small things, such as receiving a new pair clothes, are hugely treasured in a situation of such deprivation. This key quality of appreciation/happiness and a willingness to endure self-resilience from growing up in the streets or hills of hardship is something that the British Army constantly cherishes and is a noticeable separation between an ordinary soldier and a Gurkha.

This comes onto the main appeal of the British Army. It offers a wage 12x higher of an average Nepali annual wage. It provides a home and passports for the family of that soldier within the UK and a continuation of that after their service has concluded. It also provides a higher standard of living with not only the ability to travel the world and seek adventure, but also experience a life lifted out of the strains of poverty in which they are able to access, many for the first time, the bare minimums not appreciated in a typical British society, such as a bed to sleep in and even to the absolute bare minimum of using toilet paper for the first time. The financial gain of being a Gurkha allows the soldier to fund his family back home in Nepal through remittances but also provides a pension upon completion of his service.

Therefore, it is no surprise that recruitment into the British Army is in high demand, but also of what is expected of those competing in selection. The recruitment process is a yearlong process and employs hundreds to manage the vast numbers of those applying, but also teams of “Galla Walas” to visit key areas of all the 7 provinces of the country to spread recruitment info and most importantly prove to families, amongst the corruption experienced in their day to day lives, that money will not buy you a place into the Brigade of Gurkhas. The young boys applying come from a broad range of backgrounds, some with university degrees and some never even stepping outside of their foothill area. The boys must be between 18-21 (so a max of 3 attempts). It is naturally found that boys further in the foothills have a greater fitness level while the boys living in the cities have a greater educational level.

What now truly separates a Gurkha is the absolute battle of just even being selected. Out of the 14,000 applicants that apply each year, there are only places for 320 spots (2% success rate). When the boys make their application, their identity and medical records go under the most intense of scrutiny where even the slightest mistake on their application will cause a failure. The strict levels on failing allow the recruiters to cut the numbers greatly at each of the three stages of selection. Upon passing the strict background and medical checks the boys are called forward for regional selection held in Pokhara, Dharan and Surkhet. Here the boys must score the best in their region on gruelling strength and endurance tests while also undergoing numerical tests. The best in these regions are then filtered into stage two held in at the British Gurkhas Pokhara, in Pokhara, the city known for being the gateway for trekkers into the Himalayas but also the city in which selection is not only made for the British Gurkhas but also the Indian Gurkhas, something those who fail the British selection tend to turn to. By this stage thousands of applicants have been cut down to just a few hundred. Here the boys must undergo further English and mathematics tests alongside further interviews and gruelling physical tests. In every stage of the entire selection every second counts on every test and failing just one assessment leads to overall failure.

From stage two around only 500 are invited back for central selection held again at the British Gurkhas Pokhara. Anyone even making it to this stage has done a tremendous job to make it thus far but also hold a huge social pressure from their family and community back home to now pass. At this stage the tests are the most extreme compared to ones in the previous stages and the standards expected in the physical and mental assessments from pulls ups to scrutinising interviews are now what completely filters what the recruiters want. After 4.5 days of tests, the final test concludes with the infamous Doko race, a 5.8km inclined mountainous route carrying a Doko basket weighing 25kg in which anyone completing it in over 46 minutes fails thus making this assessment quite literally built on a will of sheer determination. After months of stress the final 500 young men are called individually into a room in which they are told in a matter of seconds that they have either तपाईं असफल हुनुभयो (failed) or तिमी उत्तीर्ण भयौ (passed). Around only 320 receive the second answer.

Upon passing the boys fly to the UK and begin their 39-week infantry training in Yorkshire in which upon passing out join one of 5 Gurkha regiments within the British Army.

The Gurkhas continue to be a tremendous area of British service in the 21^st century with service in Iraq and Afghanistan but also veterans continuing their pride of being a Gurkha into later obstacles in life, for example Nirmal Purja in “Project Possible” became the fastest person to climb the worlds 14 biggest peaks in just 6 months and 6 days in 2019 (14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible – Netflix).

Charles Waugh - U6th New