The Gurkhas are coming – to the Cheshire County Show (From Northwich Guardian)

The Gurkhas are coming – to the Cheshire County Show

in Cheshire Show

VISITORS to the Cheshire County Show will be able to demonstrate their support for the Gurkhas after the regiment’s year in the spotlight.

The Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas will perform a mixture of well known classics and more traditional Nepali music at the two-day event, held on June 22 and 23.

Their appearance follows a year in the headlines that saw actress Joanna Lumley lead a successful campaign for retired Gurkhas’ rights to live in Britain.

Nigel Evans, Executive Director of the Cheshire County Show, said: “The Gurkhas are looked upon with great affection by the British public and I’m sure that the good people of Cheshire will show their support for the regiment at the show.”

Gurkhas are best known for their history of bravery and strength in the Indian Army’s Gorkha regiments and the British Army’s Brigade of Gurkhas.

Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, former Chief of Staff of the Indian Army, once famously said: “If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or he is a Gurkha.”

During the Second World War there were 10 Gurkha regiments, with two battalions each making a total of 20 pre-war battalions. Their numbers grew and a long-standing relationship with the British was forged.

Some of band’s routines at the show will incorporate the famous kukri knife that is synonymous with the Gurkhas.

Major Wayne Hopla, from the Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas, said: “We try to provide a show that caters for every taste and as well as western style music we will also be performing a lot of ethnic Nepali folk tunes as well as colourful traditional dance routines.”

The band is based in Shorncliffe, near Folkestone, and has performed all over the world in recent years including Australia, Canada, South Korea, and Nepal.

The performance at the show forms part of a busy summer schedule for the band who are also visiting Brunei in June before coming back to the UK to take part in the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in August.

Major Hopla, who was appointed as the director of music with the band in 2008, has previously performed at the Cheshire County Show almost a decade ago with the former King’s Division Waterloo Band.