Sunday 26 April 2009

Land of Hope and Glory?

http://www.gurkhajustice.org.uk/
After posting this yesterday and receiving a few comments I decided to add my own little anecdote. Whilst working on protection duties around St James's Palace, just down the road from Buckingham Palace, I nipped into the guardroom for a brew. The Gurkha Regiment was doing their stint of Palace Guard duties. The duty officer had just been speaking to a young soldier, who seemed a little sad. The officer told me that this young Gurkha had just requested he be allowed to do 24 hours straight guard duty at Buckingham Palace, without relief, just for the honour of it. The officer told me he had to turn the request down, or they'd all want to do it.

14 comments:

Conan the Librarian™ said...

Nice juxtaposition of photos Hog.

Old BE said...

Sickening, isn't it.

I simply cannot understand why the government is so keen to fuck the Gurkhas over. I am embarrassed to be from this country.

dickiebo said...

I've done a piece copying yours. I am so ashamed! I really am.

Bitches In Blue said...

Great post !

Constable Confused.com said...

That just about sums it up nicely.

Blinking flipping joke ain't it. My respects to the Gurkhas, their curries in the Falklands were amazing!

Regards.

Anonymous said...

Great post and real informative.

Hogdayafternoon said...

Conan: Thanks and how nice to have a visit from you.
BE, Dickiebo: It is shaming. I really wonder if these ministers and their civil servant advisers have the slightest inkling of who they are messing with?
CC.Com: Agree. Have been to a Gurkha feed at Church Crookham.
CPD, B's in B and KyLR: Maybe if we'd had the Gurkha's in 1775 ??????? (Only kidding - pretty please!!)

Kennyo said...

kenny here,,,, this will be my new site...gogokennygo@blogspot.com

anon said...

It doesn't seem to matter where we hale from, our respective governments do terrible things that leave us common proletariate gasping with shame and disgust.
How awful.

Hogdayafternoon said...

PG: Yup. As the Kentuckian said 4 posts above...

KO. Hi again. Be careful now!!!

loveinvienna said...

Look at all those medals they're wearing! What amazing soldiers. Apparently they're terrifying even when they're just in training. Some friends of mine were in the Army Cadets and occasionally 'helped' with night training for the troops (in other words, they sat in the dark awaiting discovery) Naturally they messed around with the radios - "I see dead people" - and did the 'nudge/giggle' game... until a Company of Gurkhas decided it would be hilarious to charge at them over the hill and through the mist with their kurkris drawn. All hell broke loose with Cadets running screaming in all directions. The Gurkhas and their COs cried with laughter as the Cadets realised they had been had and trudged back to their positions.

Funny anecdote but I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of them in a battle after what I was told, utterly fearsome and dedicated soldiers. Lovely people though according to my friends. Made them a huge curry back at base in the morning. The Government's treatment of them is appalling - do they have no respect or even sense of history? But then the Government's treatment of their Armed Forces is a sore spot for me anyway...

Excellent post, Hogday :)

Kennyo said...

Hey HOg.. can you put alittle post say I'm back.... Well not hte police side of me..lol
KO

Michael Pinkstone said...

This is the sort of situation that inspires feelings of quite significant, and fully justified, angst against the government. Words such as "appalling" don't even come close to expressing the utter contempt they have shown towards those loyal soldiers. The juxtaposition of the two photos only goes to highlight even further the shame of this nation. Perhaps some pictures of the lorry loads of Eastern Europeans flooding freely into this country on a daily basis will also make someone, somewhere realise that priorities have well and truly gone for a Burton.

Disgraceful. Completely.

Henry North London 2.0 said...

@Loveinvienna Brought laughter to a very jaded soul Thanks