Having devoured General Sir Peter Duffell’s book The Gurkha Odyssey (which I reviewed here recently) and being interested in anything related to these élite and legendary soldiers, I was extremely worried about the evacuation of the 100 Nepalese Gurkhas who had been tasked with guarding the Canadian embassy in Kabul. I was relieved when I heard that they had been safely taken away from the country.

Nonetheless, the whole episode reminded me of the chapter Sir Peter devoted to the Gurkhas contribution to Britain’s fight in Afghanistan – during the 1^st Afghan War (1839-1842), the Second Afghan War (1878-1880), the Third Afghan War (1919) and the Fourth Afghan War (2001-2021). Since 2001, the Gurkhas took part in no less than 24 deployments!

“In the last two hundred years”, writes the former Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong, “the Gurkha rifleman has soldiered four times on behalf of the British Crown in the beautiful, dangerous and perfidious country of Afghanistan – always at some cost and never for much discernible gain.”

Against all odds, “forgetting their fatigue” and fighting alongside the Gordons, the Highlanders and the Seaforths at the sound of bagpipes, the Gurkhas were a “dangerous battlefield adversary” whom the Afghan fighters did “[…] all they could to avoid.” Despite all the gallantry in the world, Sir Peter comes to the heartbreaking conclusion (in light of all the blood and treasure spent in that part of the world) that “[…] no country has the means to impose its will on Afghanistan.”

On the bright side of things, the Gurkhas’ performance in Afghanistan contributed to the edification of their “[…] strong and respected position in the heart of the British Army.”

Let us now hope that statesmen and influencers of the future will spend more time in libraries and bookstores before they decide on the whim of political circumstances to risk the life and valor of men (and women) whose mission it is to give their everything for us.

For the time being, I strongly recommend The Gurkha Odyssey, not only as an excellent book about military history, but also a powerful story of exceptional courage in the most gruesome circumstances. Blood should never be sacrificed in vain.

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The title of this post comes from General Sir Peter Duffell’s book, Gurkha Odyssey: Campaigning for the Crown, Yorkshire, Pen & Sword, 2019, 290 pages.

Mr. Daniel Yesilonis, Marketing Manager of the Casemate Group, has generously provided me with a copy of this excellent book. Daniel is a joy to collaborate with for a blogger.