Nepal is a small ally in a big war

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Nepal is a small ally in a big war

Himalayan partner


On September 2, 1945, the Second World War ended. But to this day, "blank spots" remain in its historiography. One of them, not the most noticeable, is the Kingdom of Nepal.

About him, and the participation of its citizens in World War II, for a start, only one characteristic fact: the Fifth Nepalese Rifle Regiment in 1945-1946. was part of the Allied occupation forces in Hiroshima Prefecture! Located practically in the center of Japan.



Every single World War II map published in the USSR and reprinted in the Russian Federation traditionally designates Nepal as a neutral country. Although Nepal declared war on Germany in September 1939, and Japan in December 1941 ...

Meanwhile, Nepal made its contribution to the defeat of fascism and Japanese militarism. And it's not just about the humanitarian food aid provided by Nepal to China, as well as the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. Nepal as best he could, but fought.

Although one should not forget that the supplies of Nepalese wool, cotton, textiles, and hides to the USSR were also half humanitarian, and the other half was included in the aid of the British Commonwealth of the USSR under Lend-Lease.

At the same time, Nepalese troops were involved in the war, in connection with a mutual assistance treaty with Great Britain and its dominions (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa). This agreement was signed at the beginning of December 1939, and formally it still exists.

Nepal soldiers acted in 1941-1944. against the Japanese army in British Burma (now Myanmar), Malaya, on the vast eastern border of British India, in some other regions of Southeast Asia.

Moreover: some units of the Nepalese army in the same years were part of the British-American troops in Ethiopia and Somalia (liberated from the Italian occupation in 1941-1942), in Iran, Iraq, and carried garrison service in British Cyprus. That is, the Nepalese fought on many fronts of the Second World War.

Thank you, your majesty


To be punctual and honest, it must be remembered that a total of 1939 Nepalese soldiers and officers took part in hostilities on all fronts in 1945-250. Up to 300 thousand of them died and went missing. Not so little for a tiny power in the mountains.


And at the end of June 1958, King of Nepal Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Deva, having visited the USSR for the first time, also visited Stalingrad. Here the Nepalese king stated that

“Immortal, great Stalingrad marked a new stage in the world war against fascism - the stage in the defeat of all fascist aggressors and their puppets on all fronts. Nepal also participated in this war. But the decisive role in the defeat of the entire fascist bloc belongs to the Soviet Union. To the one who brought innumerable sacrifices to the altar of victory. "

His Majesty mentioned Stalingrad more than once in his speech, but in the Soviet media the "unnecessarily" frequent references of the king to Stalingrad were omitted. After all, two years have already passed since the notorious XX Congress of the CPSU, and the country began to gradually rename objects with the name of Stalin. And at the same time - and his associates.

On October 28, 1945, a large-scale Victory Parade was held in Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital, with the participation of the troops of the British Commonwealth, China and the United States. On the eve of this parade, over 40 thousand Nepalese soldiers and officers, and about 300 British and American officers assigned to the Nepalese army during the Second World War, were awarded high Nepalese and British awards.

On June 8, 1946, over 300 Nepalese soldiers took part in the Victory Parade in London.

We don't need an inch of someone else's land ...


Recognition of Nepal's military merits is the fact that a considerable number of high-ranking Nepalese officers in those years served at the headquarters of the allied forces in the Pacific. For example, the future supreme commander in chief of the troops of Nepal (1951-1956) General Kiran Shamsher Rana and General (since 1952 Field Marshal) Nir Shamsher Rana were responsible at that headquarters for telephone and radio communications with all Pacific fronts.

According to reports, the Japanese side, in order to attract Nepal to its side, unofficially offered Kathmandu territorial increments at the expense of some areas of Chinese Tibet and northeastern regions of British India.

But Kathmandu not only rejected these proposals: the Nepalese secret service, with the participation of British intelligence, in 1942 liquidated a network of Japanese sabotage agents. Among other things, they planned, for example, a series of terrorist attacks and sabotage at British military installations in Delhi and Calcutta, in a number of Nepalese contiguous areas with Chinese Tibet and British India.


Today, the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu, looks very different than in the fateful forties.

And at the beginning of 1941, Nepal established official relations with the French territories in India, whose authorities at the end of 1940 joined the "Free France" of General Charles de Gaulle (the coastal cities-districts of Pondicherry, Carical, Mahe, Yanaon and the Chandernagore region near Calcutta ).

It was the Nepalese warriors who did not allow the Japanese invaders in the spring of 1942 to reach the junction of the borders of China, British India and Burma. Liberation from Japanese occupation of a number of areas in Sumatra (western - the largest island of the Dutch East Indies - future Indonesia), in British Malaya, Burma, North Kalimantan in 1944-1945. also happened with the active participation of Nepalese troops.

This was noted, for example, by the then British commander-in-chief in Southeast Asia Lord Mountbatten, Governor General of the Dutch East Indies Van Mook. Many high-ranking Nepalese officers served at the headquarters of the allied forces.

Even the future Nepalese Supreme Commander Kiran Shamsher Rana and Field Marshal Nir, also Shamsher Rana, worked there as modest liaison officers. The Nepalese military patrolled in May-September 1945 a number of areas of the border between Burma and Thailand.

It should be recalled here that Bangkok was an ally of Japan until September 1945. Thais in 1940-1942. occupied almost a third of French Cambodia, some neighboring areas of French Laos and British Malaya.

In a word, Nepal, as if in a grip between India and China, also made its own, and it must be admitted, considerable in relation to the scale of the country itself, a contribution to the victory over Japan.
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38 comments
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  1. +16
    2 September 2021 18: 08
    Many thanks. I read it with interest. I would never have thought that a tiny state contributed to the Victory.
    1. +11
      2 September 2021 18: 56
      I will join! Yes It is very pleasant to learn such wrongly forgotten cases! good drinks Roel was a blue-black from Nepal, but he never talked about it. But he admired the Mamaev Kurgan - the heroism of my ancestors. It's somehow a shame now ...
      1. +12
        2 September 2021 19: 12
        Thanks to the author for reminding me about a little-known page in the history of our common Victory ..
      2. +7
        2 September 2021 20: 04
        Quote: Babay Atasovich
        Roel was Iscin-Negro from Nepal,

        but the Gurkhas are Mongoloids)
      3. +3
        2 September 2021 20: 15
        Quote: Babay Atasovich
        Roala was plenty-black from Nepal

        Negro from Nepal?
        1. +1
          3 September 2021 01: 15
          Quote: Ashes of Klaas
          Negro from Nepal?

          From a group of 12 people - those were 5! What have different shades Yes
    2. +3
      3 September 2021 02: 37
      Quote: Leader of the Redskins
      Many thanks. I read it with interest. I would never have thought that a tiny state contributed to the Victory.

      I understand that those 26 "pluses" to the author of the article are thanks to the readers who were shocked by what they read in the first paragraphs.
      For what purpose was the participation of this country omitted in the USSR, the losses of which are significant by the standards of the population (and in the 1930s its population of Nepal was about 5,6 million people, according to the 1961 census - 9,4 million people), - unknown, but suspected.
      ==========
      Quote: Babay Atasovich
      It's somehow a shame now ...

      Yes, it is even shameful not to mention all the allies, what to say, about the need for a more complete compilation of history textbooks.
      1. +2
        3 September 2021 09: 02
        Quote: ROSS 42
        thanks to the readers who were shocked by what they read in the first paragraphs.

        What shock? From the news that colonial troops fought in WWII? Senegalese and gumiers from the French, Indonesians in the Dutch East Indies army, Tuaregs in the Italian colonial corps - is that also shocking? ))
  2. +6
    2 September 2021 19: 21
    The King of Nepal issued a decree that any mortal conceived by a Nepalese and a Nepalese is a citizen of the country. laughing
    To my shame, I did not even know that they fought like this, more than many. I respect.
  3. +5
    2 September 2021 19: 55
    Why is the author so diligently avoiding the term "gurkhi" ??
    Very loyal to the British crown. Two Sikh wars, two Afghan wars, World War I, World War II.
    1. 0
      14 September 2021 13: 56
      - Probably because the "Gurkhas" are the servicemen of the British army recruited in Nepal, and the article deals with the Nepalese military itself ... If I understood correctly ...
  4. -7
    2 September 2021 19: 56
    Small colony ... consumable ... smile
  5. +5
    2 September 2021 19: 58
    Pts. it is strange that the article about Nepal does not mention the Gurkhas.
  6. +3
    2 September 2021 20: 02
    And what about the Gurkhas? After all, they are also Nepalese!
  7. +4
    2 September 2021 20: 29
    "Bounty hunters" fought for the British Crown on all (except North American) continents and in all (almost all colonial) wars waged by Great Britain ....
    At the moment, there is only one brigade of 3500 in service in the British army. The brigade is stationed at Church Crookham, Hampshire. The soldiers, as always, are recruited in the mountainous regions of Nepal. The competition is huge: 200 thousand people apply for 28 places. As a result, the selection procedure is considered one of the toughest. An applicant, for example, must run uphill for 40 minutes with a 20-kilogram load on his back.


    https://pikabu.ru/story/gurkkhi_voinyinepaltsyi_na_sluzhbe_velikobritanii_4845788
    1. +2
      2 September 2021 23: 12
      great guys
      Britain can count on them in any situation
      Motivated by the prospect of British citizenship and two centuries of tradition
      The question of who they serve and why arose before the Gurkhas only once, during the partition of India and its independence in 1947. Many believed that the Gurkhas should remain in the Indian army and come under the command of New Delhi. But the Gurkhas insisted on a democratic choice - and out of 10 Gurkha regiments, four decided to continue serving Britain.


      The Gurkhas are some of the most motivated military in the army. Each year, the army recruits 200 recruits in Nepal. And every year about 200 people apply for these 7000 places.


      writes https://www.bbc.com/russian/uk/2016/01/160129_uk_gurkhas_200_anno
      1. +13
        2 September 2021 23: 22
        Quote: Flood
        great guys

        Well, they used to meet even more excellent guys ...
        When the potential of the British infantry was exhausted, the Gurkhas rushed into the attack. The mountaineers, armed with generalized knives, were considered a dangerous enemy in close combat. Under the hurricane cover of artillery fire with muskets, the highlanders managed to get close to the bastion, starting hand-to-hand combat. But the Russians not only did not know who they were dealing with, but also had nowhere to retreat. The Sevastopol defenders mistook the swarthy attackers in bright clothes for the Ottomans.
        The Turks were known in the military ranks for weakness and cowardice, so the desperate attack of the Gurkha only raised the fighting spirit of the Russians. In a daring battle, the Crimean infantry cut out the colonial detachment to the last Gurkha. Then the British press called this victory of the Russians after the hardest eight-month battles "paradoxical." And throughout the entire subsequent siege, the enemy did not manage to overcome the heroic 3rd bastion.

        Source: https://kulturologia.ru/blogs/230621/50226/
        1. +2
          3 September 2021 00: 06
          Quote: Lara Croft
          Well, they used to meet even more excellent guys ...

          I wrote with a great deal of irony
          for me so mercenaries
          a kind of Foreign Legion
          well, in these times - native troops serving the interests of the white lord
          1. +2
            3 September 2021 08: 27
            Quote: Flood
            I wrote with a great deal of irony
            for me so mercenaries

            Quite right. Paying tribute to their fighting qualities, one should not, however, forget that they became condottieri of the British crown as a result of their own betrayal - in the Anglo-Nepalese war of 1814-1816, 800 captured Gurkhas went into the service of the crown (or, more precisely, the East India Company) and fought, in fact, against their own.
            And the spirit of mercenaryism was brought up in the Gurkhas, first of all, by the vicious system of financing the Nepal army of the early 19th century - the army was supported by taxes from the conquered lands, without receiving money from the treasury, which stimulated greed under a dull system of government, when tribal leaders ruled. Therefore, the defeat and decline of the Nepalese army in the war of 14-16 was natural.
  8. +3
    2 September 2021 20: 36
    Bhutan disappeared from the map to the article ...
    1. +8
      2 September 2021 21: 42
      Quote: Lara Croft
      Bhutan disappeared from the map to the article ...

      One marked, very small: a country of pacifists and monks ... and reckless pilots
      1. +3
        2 September 2021 21: 48
        Quote: Pete Mitchell
        One marked, very small: a country of pacifists and monks ... and reckless pilots

        Thanks not to notice, because of the solid fill of yellow ...
        1. +8
          2 September 2021 22: 43
          Bhutan is the homeland of the Gods, places that make an indelible impression. And after driving on their roads, even entering Paro airport will not seem so terrible.
          By the way, the article is without a doubt "plus", respect to the author
      2. +2
        3 September 2021 02: 52
        Quote: Pete Mitchell
        It is indicated by a single, very small: a country of pacifists and monks ... and reckless pilots

        Yes
        Quote: Lara Croft
        Thanks not to notice, because of the solid fill of yellow ...

        No wonder India is the size of a chicken egg ...
  9. Eug
    +8
    2 September 2021 20: 47
    I join - thank you very much, the most interesting article. I have never even heard of Nepal's participation in World War II, although I have been interested in history for 2 years ...
    1. +3
      3 September 2021 09: 10
      Quote: Eug
      I have never even heard of Nepal's participation in World War II, although I have been interested in history for 2 years ...

      Oh, how many wonderful discoveries we have ...))

      You don't know about Honduras either? But its president called our Leader only "Don Jose Stalin" smile
      1. Eug
        0
        3 September 2021 11: 41
        Thanks, I really didn't know.
  10. +2
    2 September 2021 22: 10
    Lend-Lease assistance from the British Commonwealth of the USSR.

    A small point, a mutual assistance agreement between Great Britain and the USSR and Lend-Lease are two different things. Lend-Lease is a purely American program. And under this agreement, only military supplies were free, I doubt that wool and cotton belonged to military supplies.
    1. +3
      2 September 2021 23: 03
      I doubt the cotton was a military supply.

      Gunpowder (pyroxylin) is obtained by nitriding cellulose, which at that time was obtained from cotton.
      So cotton was directly related to military supplies.
      1. +2
        2 September 2021 23: 16
        There is a wonderful Soviet film "Gunpowder" 1985.
        The film is based on a real fact from the history of the defense of Leningrad. In besieged Leningrad, due to the lack of cotton, the production of gunpowder for the needs of the city's defense ceased, and it had to be delivered from the naval warehouses of Kronstadt under enemy artillery fire and air raids.
        1. +3
          3 September 2021 09: 11
          Quote: Richard
          There is a wonderful Soviet film "Gunpowder" 1985.

          A great movie.
      2. 0
        3 September 2021 11: 23
        https://istmat.info/files/uploads/46317/rgae_413.12.9539_eksport_import_vov.pdf
        Here cotton is generally not among the imported goods. Among the exported ones. To the same Britain.
  11. +4
    2 September 2021 22: 53
    There, by the way, the Nepalese Communist Party is in power.
    Once upon a time, there were two Communist Parties in Nepal. One is Maoist, and the other is Marxist-Leninist. They have united and together are building a bright future in Nepal.
    1. +2
      2 September 2021 23: 12
      Quote: A. Privalov
      Once upon a time, there were two Communist Parties in Nepal. One is Maoist, and the other is Marxist-Leninist. They have teamed up and together are building a bright future in Nepal.

      Unity and struggle of contradictions ...
      fellow
    2. 0
      3 September 2021 02: 48
      Quote: A. Privalov
      They have come together and together are building a bright future in Nepal.

      And quite successfully, if we consider that since 1961 the population of Nepal has reached more than 30 (from 000 million people), while the population of Russia has grown from 00 million people to only 9,4 million people.
      Probably the directives of the National Union of Artists about Stalin's oblivion also touched Nepal, where the IVS was revered and treated with respect.
      1. +2
        3 September 2021 08: 39
        Quote: ROSS 42
        Quote: A. Privalov
        They have come together and together are building a bright future in Nepal.

        And quite successfully, if we consider that since 1961 the population of Nepal has reached more than 30 (from 000 million people), while the population of Russia has grown from 00 million people to only 9,4 million people.
        Probably the directives of the National Union of Artists about Stalin's oblivion also touched Nepal, where the IVS was revered and treated with respect.

        The explosive growth of the population of Nepal is due to the fact that, at one time, hundreds of thousands of copies of the Old Testament were brought there, translated into the languages ​​of the Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burmese group) and Indo-European language families. It turned out that they really liked the commandment of the Lord, "Be fruitful and multiply!" laughing

        In conditions of caste, unemployment, literacy 50%, where the average life expectancy barely reaches 65 years, population growth was achieved only due to the unprecedented fertility of local women, which in other years reached an index of 5,1. Now it has dropped to 2.5.

        In our country, 14 Nepalese work legally and the same number work illegally. Basically, in agriculture, men and women in caring for the elderly. In these sectors, salaries are not so high, but from conversations with them, I realized that they have quite a lot of money there. It is not for nothing that Nepal is asking our ministries of industry, agriculture and social security to double the quota for the entry of workers, and for those who work, to extend the term of work visas for several years.
  12. +7
    2 September 2021 23: 21
    Most of all, I am glad that they began to pay attention to the details of the events. With them, History is perceived radically better, with greater interest. Behind each hero are thousands of unknown but selfless fighters. Forgetting them and not trying to perpetuate them is a mistake. Let every work and feat not be forgotten. Now Nepal has become dearer for thousands of Russians. It is wonderful!
  13. +1
    3 September 2021 15: 51
    Well done, what can I say. Not done with a finger, and not with a stick, but with a Nepalese and a Nepalese!

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