Gurkhas turn eco warriors

Retired battle-hardened members of a Gurkha regiment of the Brit army have been drafted to protect a huge crop of vegetables at Thanet Earth Farm, Britain's largest greenhouse

Gurkhas turn eco warriors

Retired battle-hardened members of a Gurkha regiment of the Brit army have been drafted to protect a huge crop of vegetables at Thanet Earth Farm, Britain's largest greenhouse

Dozens of the former battle-hardened soldiers will keep a 24-hour-a-day vigil over the site, which will be the size of 80 football pitches and home to 1.3 million plants when fully operational next August.

A spokesman for the security firm, which sourced the soldiers, said, "Gurkhas provide reliable, unobtrusive security cover."

Gurkhas are known to take their name from the eighth-century Hindu warrior-saint Guru Gorakhnath.

When the British East India Company went to war against Nepal in 1814 to expand its operations into that mountain kingdom following border tensions, British soldiers, mostly working for the company, were impressed by the fighting qualities, tenacity and courage of the Gurkhas.

Gurkhas first fought for Britain in 1817 in the Pindari War and remained loyal to that country during the 1857 uprising. They joined the new Indian Army, which was formed in 1895, and remai-ned with it until Partition.

Six Gurkha regiments joined the new Indian army, while four transferred to the British army, moving to Malaysia.

Having served mainly in the Far East, Gurkhas are best remembered for their heroism against the Japanese in Burma, now known as Myanmar, in the Western Front and Gallipoli in World War I, the Western Desert and Italy in World War II and in the Falklands campaign during the tenure of British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

More recently, Gurkhas have served in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gurkha soldiers have won 13 Victoria Crosses awarded for gallantry by the British government.

Although Gurkha soldiers swear their oath of allegiance to the British crown on the Queen's Truncheon (a short staff made of bronze and silver), it was not until recently that they won their fight, with the help of actress Joanna Lumley, to settle in Britain.

(Source: Daily Mail)

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