ANYTHING FOR A GURKHA CURRY

Willy, Trev and Bob (self) with part of a Gurkha platoon who are playing enemy for the Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols’ Course at the Jungle Warfare School (Training Team Brunei) circa 1993.

During my time at the British Jungle Warfare School (TTB), I was lucky enough most of the time, to have an extra couple of key individuals from the SAS help out on the tracking of students during their final exercise in the jungles of Brunei on Borneo Island.

Willy (an awesome rugby player from the New Zealand SAS as well as an awesome soldier) and Trev (another awesome rugby player from 22 SAS as well as another awesome soldier) came over for this particular course. After the training programme, the final exercise was a chance to attempt to track up the students as they recce’d an enemy camp. The camp was run by a great platoon of British Army Gurkhas, they would form a camp routine much as the enemy from the region would do, and they would patrol outside of that camp in order to dominate the ground. That was the chance to join them for a couple of days, and carry out a practical tracking programme to see if we could pick up student sign on the ground with the intention of tracking them up and taking them out.

It was soldiering at it’s best, it was also fun, especially when the first sighting of student sign was discovered.

But best of all, having spent days in the jungle with the students teaching and training, it was an opportunity to leave the students to it, and trust them to carry out their tasks without us wandering along behind them. It also gave them a tough, determined and professional enemy to recce, with the Gurkhas and ourselves ever present inside their area of operations.

The idea being that in the students’ minds…even without our immediate presence, there is still no rest spite.

But for us, we could come into the Gurkha camp, chat and chill for a while, but most importantly we were ALWAYS guaranteed an amazing Gurkha curry…and enough in a mess tin to feed five men!

In my time at the jungle school as the Senior Military Instructor (SMI), it was always a pleasure to work alongside the Gurkha Demonstration Platoon. They would act out scenarios in front of the students in order to make the chosen subject of jungle soldiering crystal clear in practical form…and often through the course they would act as enemy. Between 1992-94 (my time in the position of Warrant Officer 1 SMI) 50% of the instructors were from the Gurkha Regiments. My position was an SAS tied post at that time, as was the RSM’s position by the Parachute Regiment. The other instructors coming from other infantry regiments and the Royal Marines, and the odd one at times from the New Zealand or Australian infantry.

It’s easy for most of us, we’re trained in the skills of jungle warfare, and we teach in our first language to the students…English. But for the Gurkha instructors, although trained in jungle warfare, their instruction is given in a second language…not their native tongue. For that alone, I take my hat off to every one of them. I had taught soldiering in the Middle East from time to time over the years prior to my appointment at the jungle school, and know only too well just how difficult teaching in another language other than your own can be.

So this post, is dedicated to the Gurkha soldier…a tough little man with a massive heart, will always go that extra mile…and also makes an awesome curry…thank you all for allowing me the pleasure to work alongside you.