Ghurka soldiers baulk at aeroplane drop.

[Joe Chi Minh]

"Possibly apocryphal" story related in his column in yesterday's Daily Mail by Ephraim Hardcastle:

"Joanna Lumley's heroic campaign on behalf of Ghura soldiers recalls the 1950s Malayan emergency, and the possibly apocryphal story of a British colonel who asked a platoon of Nepalese warriors to jump into action from a troop-carrying plane. Having considered it overight, their leader said they'd only do it over marshy ground from no more than 500 feet. "but the parachutes wouldn't open," protested the colonel. "Ah, no-one mentioned parachutes", said the Ghurka platoon leader."

[Tab]

1. I may be missing something

but I don't find that funny, and having been to Nepal, I can attest that the people there are no idiots.

[Joe Chi Minh]

2. I think you are missing something, Tab. Everything, I'm afraid. It's intended as a tribute

to their legendary hardiness, courage, strength, intrepidity, every martial virtue you could think of. They're icons to the British people, viewed with an equal mixture of affection and awe.

For "Gurkhas", these days, you might alternatively put "SAS" or in the US, "Seals", although they're relative newcomers, so perhaps not as well imprinted in the British psyche. Of course, the Ghurkas' propensity for creeping up on their enemies and swiftly cutting their heads off with their khukris is a powerful mnemonic peg.

I remember when I was in Malaysia an anecdote which probably wasn't apocryphal. Our troops were finding it impossible to clear the market place in Kuching, So they called in a detachment of Ghurkas. As they approached the square or whatever it was, they drew their khukris, and hey presto, it was cleared in a trice. And who can blame the "enemy"?

Still, it all seems to have been desperately unnecessary, as, the day I reported to Woolwich to be drafted there, Sukarno must have got wind of it, because he called it all off.

[Orsino]

3. Yeah, that's pretty hooah.

And pretty funny.

[Joe Chi Minh]

4. Yeah. I thought it was great. The punch-line reads so naturally. Kind of understated!

[YOY]

5. Ghurkas are bad asses.

Hardcore and tough as nails hand-to-hand experts who don't second guess orders.

It's not about "stupid" it's about "tough".