A Gurkha unit was among those ordered to undertake the Amritsar Massacre, for example. Punjab isn't super far from Nepal, but the point stands: were there many Nepali people known in that part of India beforehand? Would the involvement of the Gurkhas create hostility towards Nepali people more broadly in Punjab or the rest of India, or did the public generally realize that it was all British manipulation anyway (it would seem to have been the case based on my limited knowledge)?
Even further from home, what about Iraq? Episode 71 of the Irish History Podcast samples from Charles Townsend's "When God made hell : the British campaign in Mesopotamia and the creation of Iraq, 1914-1921", which itself quotes a British soldier of the Manchester Regiment by the name of Brooking:
> The modus operanda [against an attack on British troops] is as follows: artillery strafes the nearest village where most probably the marauders came from. Sometimes they get the wrong village, which matters little. And after an hour or two's bombardment a strafing party of infantry, the exact number depends on the size of the village, go and proceed and wipe out all who are foolish enough to wait for us. Gurkhas in particular like these jobs and can be relied on to scientifically dispatch all inhabitants, mostly per the kukri methods, bury them, and burn down the village and have everything tidied up before we arrive.
Was there any longstanding enmity towards Gurkhas in the region after the British involvement in Mandatory Iraq? What about, say, Burma and other areas of British imperialism employing the Gurkhas (or any other large "ethnic" units).
As an aside, what about the effect "back home"? Did British press attempt to downplay their government's involvement in brutal acts by blaming it on their "primitive subjects"? How did British (and French) writers exploit and use the image of the "ethnic" military unit in their literature? (I'm thinking of the brutal and infantilizing language and imagery in France towards black African colonial troops in WWI here) Is our modern image of the "badass Gurkhas" a modern development mainly, or is there a continuity between the modern image and the reputation the Brooking quote above constructs?
EDIT: I somehow forgot to put it in the title, but I'm also open to any information about French and other European colonial use of the military organization technique and their social repercussions.
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... keep reading on reddit ➡I loose the seal on the tubo and even before I take the top off the aroma of pure cognac is escaping. I take off the cap and all I smell is cognac. The stick smells like cognac with tobacco somewhere far in the background. I light this thing up and all I get is—pure, sweet cognac! Unbelievable! I can even taste it as the cigar touches my lips. The flavor of pure cognac is all I can detect until about an inch in at which time I begin to taste fresh oak. There is a long finish of unbelievably strong cognac. In the second third, and I didn't think it possible, but the cognac was even stronger. The cognac long finish was bolder. It's like actually taking a drink of Remy Martin Black Pearl Louis XIII. If I didn't know better I would insist that I could even taste the alcohol. Actually I think I did taste the alcohol. That must have been one tight tubo! There is richness and creaminess with a hint of tobacco. The retro is reminiscent of the breath you exhale after a good, fine brandy. A French inhale was like imbibing a drink. In the final third there was the hint of a tea note. The flavors were bolder and the smoke was stronger. This cigar wasn't complex in evolution but it was striking in infusion. This thing MUST have just been infused right before it was sent or it was accidentally over-soaked in cognac. I feel like I have just tasted Remy Martin Black Pearl Louis XIII cognac; the most expensive available. I don't feel like I had a smoke, I feel like I've had a drink. I wouldn't want to take a breathalyzer test right now. They say that His Majesty’s Reserve and the million dollar diamond studded version of this same cigar (the Gurkha Royal Courtesan Cigar) is infused five times more with cognac. I can't imagine! I previously smoked the Gurkha Cognac Torpedo Maduro and was not impressed in the least. The cognac was barely noticeable. But this musket was incredible!
Source of cigar: CigarBid
“A special cigar. Gurkha is a dynamite, top-of-the-line Dominican. Gurkha cigars are hand-rolled from the finest tobaccos grown in the Cibao Valley of the Dominican Republic. The Louis XIII line is one of the finest that Gurkha makes. The Grand Reserve (copper) features a premium Connecticut shade wrapper, and each cigar is infused with fine Louis XIII Cognac, resulting in a unique, subtle, pleasant finish . . . *Each cigar is gorgeously presented under glass in crystal tubos, and each glass tube is characteristically hand-di
... keep reading on reddit ➡PICTURES BELOW
Got a 20 pack from a duty free. I let them rest for around 1.5 months in 72RH and ~72F temperature. Tried to light one up several days ago: it just straight up wouldn't stay lit. It wouldn't. Then I figured something might be wrong with the RH so I decreased it. One week with ~65 RH. Lit one up today.
To begin with - the first third, where the diameter gradually increases, is painful. I've had to puff it every 20 seconds so that the flame could stay hot&red. And then the debris started. The ash spread out EVERYWHERE every time I puffed. You can see how the ash looked in the pictures below. It seems like it's so loosely wrapped - the wrapper is not sticking to the filler. Furthermore, the draw - it was awful. I needed to put in three strong puffs until the wrapper turned red and I could collect a decent amount of smoke. I used a perfecdraw but it didn't help much. Also, needed a correction every other puff... The aroma wasn't too bad, but the smoking experience was DREADFUL.
So... I'm going to need some advice. This is my first non-cuban, and having sampled a wide range of cubans, this is a HUGE disappointment.
- What am I doing wrong? Did I mess up the humidity? Did I get them to expand, and when the humidity decreases, will the rest be salvaged?
- The draw - is it normal that it's so hard? I even used a perfectdraw. Several punctures. I went through the tightest cubans and this is not even close when I think about it - this is worse.
- Any other tips/suggestions? I know people hate the brand here but I can't just ditch the rest they cost a lot so I'll need to salvage them lol. The aroma wasn't bad either, it was just, the smoking was too much of a hassle.
the mess. it was worse before I cleaned up.
[the ash. it got worse the further I smoked](htt
... keep reading on reddit ➡
The cold draw was sweet. The fired stick had notes of toast, sweet richly aged tobacco, cedar, some earthiness, woodiness, and hints of coffee bean and citrus. There was a bitter cherry finish. Into the second third, pepper kicked my palate, there was spice, leather, and a hint of caraway seed. The flavors became richer and much more complex. The final third was fuller bodied with stronger wood notes. Although there was no bitterness or bite, the finish left a pleasant light numbness on the tongue akin to that experienced after eating raw cloves. The stick was rolled loose, but had a good draw. The burn was uneven and there was some canoeing, but absolutely no tunneling at all. Early on I purged the cigar while smoking and a small hole punctured through the wrapper on the top of it. It was minute but I had to hold my finger over it to get a good draw until the burn line reached it, which wasn't long at all. This vintage cigar is comprised of an oily Crollo 1998 wrapper that combines an aged Dominican, olor binder with a 15-year old Dominican Filler. This cigar was so gratifyingly rich with aged tobacco and at times was very sweet. It was even better than the $1,050 cigar which Gurkha made. The scent of very sweet tobacco lay heavily on my beard. This is one of Gurkhas better creations. This was an excellent cigar.
Strength: Medium to Full
Wrapper: Criollo
Origin: Dominican Republic
Cigar Journal rating: 97—Top 10 Cigar of the Year
International Cigar Association rating: 99
Cigar Aficionado rating: 90
Source of cigar: Corona Cigar Company
I had the gurkha cellar reserve 15 on my to-do list for quite some time now but my usual purveyor ran out for pretty much as long. When their toro sampler came out I finally got a hold of one. I must say this was a complete disappointment. It was grassy, between green and bread.Not completely unpleasant but completely bland. Mouth feel was mediocre, extremely short finish to borrow a term from wine, and what lingered was unpleasant. for something with a 55 or so ring I would have expected more body but it was not there.
I grade cigars in a dollar scale; when you ask around $12 for a cigar there is some strong competition from the likes of the Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Maestro (actually a $10 cigar), the Montecristo Espada, or even an Arturo Fuentes Opus X, if you are lucky to find them. This Gurkha has a very hard time competing with my favorites on the $6 dollar range, such as Arturo Fuentes Hemingway and Romeo y Julieta 1875.
To anybody that has smoked the ones Gurkha are just putting out; did I get a bad one or did they drop the ball on the blend?
I’ve tried calling all available numbers but haven’t had any luck. Is there any type of alternative? Or do I just keep trying
Lemme preface this by saying I'm a corporal in an artillery battery, but my unit is moving beyond the 150 mile boundary. And is just not practical for me to drive every month, they're having us all decide to 1.) Make the drive and get paid the first 3 years they are there 2.) IMA position 3.)inter service transition/ go AD/ retrain to a different MOS 4.) Drop to the IRR early
I am really debating going AD just not sure if I wanna be an 0811 anymore
I just graduated AIT today, and my recruiter never gave me contact information for my unit. I called the number on my contract, but it was a disconnected number, and I can’t seem to find any contact info online.
I would just drop in, but my unit is 3 hours away. I’m not sure a 6 hour round trip is worth it when I’m not even sure if I’m supposed to be there at all.
Would the Reserve center in town be able to help me get better contact info? Should I just make the road trip?
Also, what should I expect when I report? Paperwork? Equipment to bring?
I apologize if this is an inappropriate question. I may be needing to make a career move from AD to Reserve or Guard while I attend grad school. I'd like to find out what units may be around the schools I am applying to and what MOS/AOCs are present in each. Is this a Career Counselor question? How would I go about researching this? I don't necessarily need to know what openings are currently present, just a general idea of what my options are. I am open to reclassing if necessary and have no restrictions in that regard.
If anyone has found themselves in a similar situation I'd love to hear whatever advice/insight you might have!
I'm 3 years into a 4 year contract and I'm just super dissatisfied in my current position because I've spent my time in an admin job that doesn't really deploy and haven't even had the chance to go to Korea or anything. I almost have my associates via TA I used with a local university so commissioning is a possibility. I guess my options right now would be re-train into enlisted aircrew but I'm honestly not too keen on re-enlisting active duty now that we're more peacetime. It just feels like I'd be taking another gamble on whether I like it or not.
The other option would be to get out, obtain a pilot license (I have the money), and do ROTC. That also seems totally doable I think.
Anyone been in both or know someone that got out and went Guard/Reserve aircrew? I don't really know a whole lot about the Guard/Reserves besides that fact that they all made the base packed one weekend a month, but I know an aircrew member would still have to maintain flying hours and such. Are they all jumbled up in a unit together when deployed? I know the Guard falls under the state and everyone has to maintain flying hours but I'm just curious how life in both would compare judging from unit size, culture, etc.
