e only group to reach the top of the ridge and drive back the Turks was a small group of the 1/5th and 1/6th. However, the reinforcements that were expected never arrived and they were driven back (Farwell 130). This was the last chance for Gallipoli and the campaign was called off (Nepal and Bhutan: Country Studies). Still the only unit that managed even a small victory over the Turks were the Gurkhas.There were also Gurkhas stationed in Mesopotamia. While they where residing there it was decided that they were to press on to Baghdad. On the trek down they encountered a Turkish force at Kut-el-Amara where they captured 1,300 prisoners and all their guns. At the city of Ctesiphon 300 men of the 2/7th and less then a hundred of the 21st held back the assaults of an entire Turkish division, resulting in the hill they stood on in being named Gurkha Mound. There was a long siege at Kut-el-Amara that resulted in the British surrender, but in December of 1916 they resumed the offensive with a force of 166,000 men (Farwell 112), over two-thirds of which were part of the Indian and Gurkha regiments. With this new force they marched down to Baghdad. There was much hard fighting but they reached the city and on March 11th, 1917, the entire city came under British control. In every country where the war was being fought there were Gurkhas. They fought on every frontier and brought glory to their names. Even after the war some Gurkhas remained along the Indian frontiers keeping order. There was a time of peace for a short while, where the Gurkhas did not see that much action. But World War II was just around the corner, and it was this war that gave the Gurkhas world wide renown (Nepal 203).In World War II alone, the Gurkha Brigade won 197 battle honors for gallantry and 12 Victoria Crosses (Brief Historical Background of the Gurkhas). The Gurkhas saw the most action in North Africa, Italy, Greece and Burma (Nepal and Bhutan: Countr...
