MUSEUM As you go in, you find yourself pitched straight at the Himalayan foothills. Trekkers will be able to plot their massive journeys on the illuminated relief map, watched by curious villagers. Nepalese weapons, gold ornaments etc all give the feeling of 'Pahar’. This leads on to an audio diorama of the Nepal War between the British East India Company and the warlike Nepalese, which brought Gurkhas into British Service in 1815. Pictures, weapons, medals etc complete the scene. Round another corner and you find yourself fighting alongside these first enlisted Gurkhas in the early internecine wars in India against Sikhs and Afghans. Tableaux, displays, pictures and medals make this an exciting historical journey. And even if you thought you knew everything about Gurkhas and their history, you soon find you dont. Then the awesome horror of the Indian Mutiny and Gurkhas true to their salt fighting at desperate odds to hold India for the Raj. Finally, the 2nd and 3rd Gurkhas breaking into Delhi, the mutineers’ citadel. A quick pause for breath and you are into the finest trainer of Gurkhas for much of their history – the North West Frontier. We defy you not to be shocked and excited by the dramatic quality of the fight of the lonely Damdil piquet against the furious onslaught of Pathan tribesmen. The Museum tells the story of all the Gurkha Regiments and what a stimulating story it is! Remember that the North East Frontier of India was almost as much trouble to the Raj as the North West Frontier and Regiments such as 6th, 7th, 8th and 10th spent much of their time pre-WW1 pitted against warlike Nagas and suchlike. The Museum relates this story graphically, with fascinating dioramas and some quite outstanding modelling. Don’t forget that Gurkhas even stormed the fort of Gyantse in Tibet (a kukri blade was unearthed from there quite recently!). Up the stairs and on into the bloodbath of machine gun and barbed wire of WW1; gallant Gurkhas breaking the German line in 1915 and shoulder to shoulder with them. Then without a pause, into the tragic failure of Gallipoli, as Allanson leads the 6th to conquer the heights of Sari Bair and hold for a moment the key to victory. Once you have defeated the Turks in Mespot its time to get behind the Vickers MMG in the WW2 Desert or winkle the Japs out of their foxholes in Burma; or slam another 3” mortar bomb down the tube at Cassino – all life sized, dramatic and fully explained. Now we are getting into more recent memory - agonies of Partition, splitting up of the brigade, some to India and some to Britain; tidying up after WW2 in Indo-China and Indonesia and then the long twelve-year Malayan Emergency. Hear the ciccadias whine, as you basha up and send out the sitrep while the Bren gunner strains his eyes beyond the perimeter. On then to the Brunei Revolt, Indonesian Confrontation and the Falklands. Then comes a chance to stand back and take stock of Gurkha Arms, as you see pictures of all those who gained VCs and read their amazing citations. See also every medal earned by Gurkhas and where in the world. Its all there, as is post war soldiering in Hong Kong, the Far East and UK, right up to UN and NATO operations in the former Yugoslavia, Kosovo, East Timor, Sierra Leone, and currently Afghanistan and Iraq.