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The Soldier Who Took on 200 ENEMIES With One Hand

The Soldier Who Took on 200 ENEMIES With One Hand

Released Wednesday, 11th October 2023
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The Soldier Who Took on 200 ENEMIES With One Hand

The Soldier Who Took on 200 ENEMIES With One Hand

The Soldier Who Took on 200 ENEMIES With One Hand

The Soldier Who Took on 200 ENEMIES With One Hand

Wednesday, 11th October 2023
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Episode Transcript

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0:00

On the night of May 12th, 1945, during World War Two,

0:03

a soldier lay half dead inside a trench in a pool of his own blood.

0:07

He lost both his right hand and his right eye, among numerous other injuries.

0:12

Not to mention his entire squad around him was also either already dead

0:16

or dying as well. But as the sounds and footsteps of dozens of enemy soldiers

0:21

quickly approached the severely wounded man's position.

0:24

Although an overwhelming majority of people in his shoes would have just

0:27

been completely paralyzed by the pain and given up, this man simply refused to.

0:32

In his mind, he wasn't just some ordinary soldier.

0:35

He was a Gurkha. And he was about to show them what exactly a Gurkha could do.

0:40

Welcome back, guys. My name is Andy Chang, and this is it in stores

0:57

towards the end of April, 1945, a 27 year old Gurkha rifle man named Lucky Gurung

1:03

set off with his unit the eighth Gurkha rifles, to intercept a retreating force

1:07

of Japanese soldiers in the town of Tung off Burma.

1:10

Now, at the time, many parts of Burma were still firmly under Japanese occupation,

1:14

since the country as a whole was located in an extremely strategically beneficial area.

1:19

Over the past couple of years, Britain and Japan had been relentlessly

1:22

and continuously fighting over Burmese territory, with countless casualties on both sides.

1:27

Despite this horrific bloodshed, however, both armies refused to give up

1:31

and were desperately trying to hold on to the position in some especially critical regions.

1:36

Every single small inch of territory was viciously fought over as a result,

1:40

when that group of Japanese soldiers were finally trying to retreat back to the town of Tongo, Lockman Gurung

1:46

and the eighth Gurkha rifles were immediately sent out to eliminate them once and for all

1:50

before they could reunite with reinforcements.

1:52

On that fateful night, May 12th, 1945, Lucky Mong and the two other Gurkhas

1:57

and his unit were tasked with digging and manning a lookout trench at the very front of his platoon.

2:02

But although everyone had just kind of assumed that they would be able

2:05

to easily surround and overwhelm what they saw to be this sparse group

2:09

of completely demoralized and exhausted Japanese soldiers,

2:12

they had no way of anticipating what was in store for them.

2:15

At around 1:20 a.m. that night, a lucky man was sleeping when he was suddenly jolted awake

2:20

by one of his two comrades who was on lookout.

2:22

This riflemen frantically informed him that the Japanese soldiers had launched a massive surprise attack on them

2:28

and that he needed to get up now or they were all dead.

2:31

Turns out, although a lucky man in the eighth Gurkha

2:33

rifles had anticipated them surrounding the retreating Japanese soldiers,

2:37

it's a view that underestimated the size of the enemy army.

2:40

And suddenly they were now the ones being surrounded by more than 200

2:44

enemy combatants since their trench was the very first line of defense against the Japanese soldiers

2:49

before they would reach the rest of the eighth Gurkha rifles,

2:51

who would be even more caught off guard and completely outnumbered.

2:55

Lucky man and his comrades knew that they needed to try and take out

2:58

as many of the enemy as they could to protect their fellow Gurkhas.

3:01

And to minimize the number of casualties in their entire unit.

3:04

A Japanese victory at that point would have been a huge setback for the British, a setback that they just couldn't afford.

3:09

So lucky man and his comrades mentally prepare themselves for a brutal fight

3:13

until the very end. But as they each begin to reach for their bolt action rifles, a life

3:17

grenade suddenly landed into their trench right next to them.

3:20

It was a split second decision. Without hesitation, Lukman immediately lunged towards the grenade, grabbed it

3:26

and flung it back out towards the Japanese.

3:28

He had no idea how long the Fuze had already been lit for,

3:32

whether the grenade would have exploded in his own hand and killed him instantly.

3:35

But still, even though he could have taken the relatively safer path of just diving out of the way large men

3:40

chose to put his life on the line for his comrades, and extremely luckily,

3:44

he just managed to send the grenade flying away before it exploded

3:48

very close to them. But not actually hurting any of them.

3:51

However, before any of the three Gurkhas could even process what had just happened,

3:55

a second grenade suddenly landed inside the trench.

3:58

Once again, Lukman bravely pounced on it and was just able to throw it out

4:02

before it exploded. But when a third grenade then landed into the trench,

4:05

his luck finally ran out, just as the grenade was leaving.

4:09

Lucky months, fingers. It ignited right next to his hit.

4:12

The explosion was devastating.

4:14

Since it had happened so close to Lucky Man and immediately blew off his right

4:18

hand, shattered his arm, nearly took off the right side of his face,

4:22

and also sent deadly shrapnel flying into his body and his legs.

4:26

Even his comrades who weren't nearly as close to the explosion as he was,

4:30

were either severely wounded or instantly killed on the spot.

4:33

As a lucky man, lay there on the ground, missing an eye and a hand shell shocked

4:37

and an unimaginable pain.

4:39

A pool of his own blood started forming underneath him, pouring out of his numerous wounds.

4:44

But although anyone else in his position just wouldn't have been able to even move,

4:48

much less drag themselves up and just keep on fighting.

4:51

Lucky man Goodrum wasn't just anyone.

4:54

Still, to this very day, the Google riflemen from Nepal are widely

4:58

regarded as one of the most dangerous elite groups of warriors around the world.

5:02

Although Gurkhas are often extremely humble and kind in general in battle,

5:06

they are widely feared and respected for their shocking viciousness

5:09

and unwavering courage. They've been described as being even more deadly than American Navy SEALs

5:15

and our new legendary status in terms of their feats and accomplishments.

5:18

All of which is to say that Gurkhas don't give up easily, if ever.

5:22

Although Lucky Man was in absolutely no stage to keep on fighting,

5:25

somehow he managed to muster up the unimaginable strength

5:28

to sit up and grab his kukri knife, the signature weapon of the Gurkhas.

5:33

Barely even fully conscious by this point. He jam the knife point first into the ground in front of him

5:38

before roaring into the darkness. No one will pass here today.

5:41

Now come and fight a Gurkha as Japanese soldier.

5:44

After Japanese soldier approached them, lock him up methodically and precisely,

5:48

sought each of them one by one, using his bolt action rifle, even

5:52

while only having one hand and one eye since he was only four feet 11 inches.

5:56

He cleverly used his size to his advantage, laying down in the transfer.

6:00

No one could see him and then popping out and quickly gunning down enemies

6:04

whenever they got too close before they could even react with the other two

6:07

Gurkhas at his trench, either already dead or dying

6:10

like him on knew that it was on him to take on the incoming

6:14

Japanese army and to prevent them from massacring his entire unit.

6:18

As such, despite experiencing excruciating levels of pain

6:22

and not even being able to see or just think properly, like him,

6:25

or just gritted teeth and forced himself to just keep on fighting

6:28

for one more minute. And then another.

6:30

And then another. Continuing to drop enemy soldier after enemy soldiers for four entire hours

6:36

like him on steroids position inside his friends and did this a one man army.

6:40

He would later say I had to fight because there was no other way.

6:43

I felt I was going to die anyways, so I might as well have died standing on my feet.

6:47

All I knew was that I had to go on and hold them back.

6:50

By the time the battle was finally over and the Japanese were forced to retreat,

6:54

to regroup. Out of the 87 enemy soldiers dead on the ground,

6:58

31 of them lay in front of Lockman alone.

7:01

The other riflemen in his unit were so inspired by his spirit and his courage

7:05

that although they were still complete surrounded

7:08

and outnumbered by Japanese forces for the next three days,

7:11

they were able to hold off and defeat every single attack that the Japanese tried launching at them.

7:16

As a result, against all odds, a good number of the eighth Gurkha

7:19

rifles were able to make it back to friendly territory with their lives,

7:22

but had lucky might not severely weakened the first Japanese surprise attack.

7:26

It was very likely that the entirety of his unit

7:29

would have been completely overwhelmed and killed

7:31

and their territory would have been lost. Miraculously, despite his horrific wounds.

7:35

Lucky man Gurung himself actually ended up surviving

7:38

as well, despite having lost both an eye and an arm.

7:41

However, incredibly, he refused to be sent back home

7:44

and insisted that he be allowed to continue fighting with his unit.

7:48

As a result, even though World War Two officially came to an end in September

7:51

of that year, Lockdown continued serving with the Gurkhas

7:54

for two more years before finally retiring in 1947.

7:58

After the war, he was awarded Britain's rarest and most prestigious

8:01

decoration, the Victoria Cross, for his actions in Tongo.

8:05

Even in old age, like him on never lost his fighting spirit and resilience.

8:09

In 2008, when Gurkha soldiers were told

8:11

that they weren't allowed to live in Britain, even though they had fought and risk their lives under Britain and help them

8:15

win the war. Lockman, who was 91 at the time, dragged himself all the way to the British

8:21

High Court, covered in his medals and demanded that the law be repealed.

8:24

In the end, his protest was accessible.

8:26

Lucky man Gurung passed away at the age of 92 in 2010.

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