DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49384#0123
84
CHAPTER VII.
The 2/8th Gurkha Rifles, under Lieutenant-Colonel G. M.
Morris, were destined to play a very gallant part during the battle
of Loos. The battalion had undergone a terrible experience within
a few hours of its first arrival in the trenches on the 30th October,
1914. On that date it lost a large number of officers and men. The
deeds of the regiment on the 25th September, 1915, will never be
forgotten, and the memory of their fallen comrades was fully avenged,
although at a terrible cost to the battalion. In one instance the
Germans had begun to come in at the right end of our trench,
bombing along the trench. They were most gallantly attacked by a
party led by Subadar Sarbjit Gurung, which fought with superb
bravery against overwhelming odds but was killed to the last man,
one of our machine-guns being also put out of action by a bomb.
Subadar Sarbjit Gurung was posthumously awarded the 2nd
Class Indian Order of Merit, in recognition of his bravery and
self-devotion.
Subadar Ransur Rana was left in command of about 100
Gurkhas. The Subadar and his party were cut off by the advance
of the Germans at about 3 P. M., but firing was heard from the
direction of the spot where the heroic band of Gurkhas was besieged,
until about noon next day, when it gradually died down and the last
act of the tragedy was complete.
From the available information as to the total number of prisoners
of the 2/8th Gurkhas in the hands of the Germans, it seems probable
that few of Subadar Ransur Rana’s party survived. Determined to
take their full toll for the loss of their officers and comrades on the
30th October, 1914, they appear to have fought until their
ammunition was expended and they were overwhelmed. Amongst
the survivors, happily, was Subadar Ransur Rana, now a prisoner in
Germany.
Lieutenant •Harington and Subadar Sarbjit Gurung were
mentioned in despatches.
2nd Lieutenant Rana Jodha Jang of the 39th Garhwalis, for his
gallantry when leading a company of his battalion, coupled with the
CHAPTER VII.
The 2/8th Gurkha Rifles, under Lieutenant-Colonel G. M.
Morris, were destined to play a very gallant part during the battle
of Loos. The battalion had undergone a terrible experience within
a few hours of its first arrival in the trenches on the 30th October,
1914. On that date it lost a large number of officers and men. The
deeds of the regiment on the 25th September, 1915, will never be
forgotten, and the memory of their fallen comrades was fully avenged,
although at a terrible cost to the battalion. In one instance the
Germans had begun to come in at the right end of our trench,
bombing along the trench. They were most gallantly attacked by a
party led by Subadar Sarbjit Gurung, which fought with superb
bravery against overwhelming odds but was killed to the last man,
one of our machine-guns being also put out of action by a bomb.
Subadar Sarbjit Gurung was posthumously awarded the 2nd
Class Indian Order of Merit, in recognition of his bravery and
self-devotion.
Subadar Ransur Rana was left in command of about 100
Gurkhas. The Subadar and his party were cut off by the advance
of the Germans at about 3 P. M., but firing was heard from the
direction of the spot where the heroic band of Gurkhas was besieged,
until about noon next day, when it gradually died down and the last
act of the tragedy was complete.
From the available information as to the total number of prisoners
of the 2/8th Gurkhas in the hands of the Germans, it seems probable
that few of Subadar Ransur Rana’s party survived. Determined to
take their full toll for the loss of their officers and comrades on the
30th October, 1914, they appear to have fought until their
ammunition was expended and they were overwhelmed. Amongst
the survivors, happily, was Subadar Ransur Rana, now a prisoner in
Germany.
Lieutenant •Harington and Subadar Sarbjit Gurung were
mentioned in despatches.
2nd Lieutenant Rana Jodha Jang of the 39th Garhwalis, for his
gallantry when leading a company of his battalion, coupled with the