Nightward
11/25/01 09:22 PM
203.134.12.8
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Another e-mail. Enjoy.
At a recent get-together there was some sort of discussion on the Ghurkas (the Nepalise elite soldiers deployed by the British just about everywhere :). The discussion was actually on the fact that there are apparently Ghurkas from other countries (India, etc) but this is about the 'real' Nepalise ones. They are considered the best soldiers in the world (ie. Infantry, there's no point bringing special forces into it), and are tough as nails. I'm reading the biography of Neil Davis, a Tasmanian who spent most of his life as a war correspondent and cameraman in Asia. He came to be widely regarded as probably the best war cameraman ever, was massively respected across the globe, and was eventually killed in a piddly coup in Bangkok in 1985. Anyway, while he was covering the war in Borneo, he spent a lot of time with the Ghurkas. The Ghurkas are not trained in paratrooping but due to the problems of moving through jungle the British command wanted to be able to insert them into hotspots from air. So the Brits asked the Ghurkas whether if the need arose, the Ghurkas would be willing to jump from a C130 Hercules into battle against the Indonesians (being untrained, it was within their rights to refuse). Now, the Ghurkas are generally quick to agree to just about anything but on this occasion refused outright. The next morning, however, having discussed it amongst themselves, the Ghurkas returned to the commanders and said they were willing to jump if certain conditions were met. "Okay, what are they," the commander asked. The Ghurkas told him they would jump if the ground was marshy or soft, as they had no training in falling. The second condition was that there were no rocky outcrops in the landing area. The third condition was that the plane must fly slowly and at a height of no more than 100ft (30 metres, about 1.5 times Kangaroo Point). The British officer said that they would be jumping over jungle and there were few rocky outcrops, so there was unlikely to be a problem with that, and the aircraft always flies as slowly as possible when dropping soldiers. But jumping at a hundred feet would be impossible, as there would be no time for parachutes to open. "Oh, that's alright, then!" The Ghurkas replied. "We'll jump with parachutes anywhere. You didn't mention parachutes before!"
Quantum Physics Summarised - By Dave Barry Point One: Whatever you think about anything is wrong. Point Two: There is no such thing as Point One. You THINK there is a Point One, but that just shows what a physics moron you a
Yea, verily. Let it be known far and wide that Nightward loathes MW: DA. Indeed, it is with the BURNING ANIMUS OF A THOUSAND SUNS that he doth rage against it with.
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