Heat, humidity and sad story challenge the Gurkhas

Published on: Sunday, May 29, 2022

By: Kan Yaw Chong

Text Size:

Crossing the Telupid river – a key landmark of the original Death March route.

SHUT down for two full years by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Queen’s Gurkha Signals were the first international group to grab the opportunity to fly into Sabah to mount a full 260km Death March trek from April 28 to May 8.

As everybody knows, the Gurkhas have a reputation as the toughest, fearless fighting elites in the world.

So it’s an honour and hope to think they rushed to visit Sabah at the first opportunity after a stifling marathon pandemic lock down which decimated Sabah’s tourism receipts.

To be considered a Gurkha material fit for enlistment into the British Army, candidates have to pass a series of demanding physical and mental tests culminating in the infamous Doko race – rated the world’s toughest military selection tests in which potential recruits have to complete a grilling uphill sprint of more than five kilometres in the foothills of the Himalayas carrying a boko basket with 25kgs of either rocks or sand strapped to the head and shoulders, with time of 46 minutes to beat !!

But when it comes to the eleven-day 260km Death March walk, the goings proved tougher than they had expected, not only because the physical challenge of the tropical heat but stories of the “horrifying” treatment of prisoners marching under command melted to their 99.97pc death melted the hearts of this most hardy of soldiers in the world.

Expedition Leader, Planner and Coordinator, Captain Gopal Krishna Saru and Major Om Pun – Observer of the Expedition, tell us their experience in this interview.

A really sad story: Capt Gopal

Daily Express: What prompted your interest in walking the full 260km length of the death march?

Captain Gopal Saru: Two reasons. One is I want to do something very different, very challenging, to be there where it happened, pushing to the limit, that’s what I want to do. Secondly, to understand the story of this Sandakan-Ranau Death March of this war (WW2). I heard about it, I read about it in books, the Internet but I did not know what it was like. So, I really wanted to come to see for myself and understand the physical aspect of the ground and the track, the route and the story.”

DE: Some of us think the Death March is a disaster – 2,434 prisoners of war died, included all 641 British POWs who were confined in Sandakan and Ranau but our editor-in-chief James Sarda is puzzled why it is so little known in the UK and Australia?

Capt Gopal: I heard it from retired Major John Tuloch of Royal Artillery who has connections with the Gurkhas, he spoke about it, so I heard from him, so I found out the hidden story through Major Tuloch. I heard about how the Japanese treated the POWs, how bad it was. I began to think what it was, I wanted to learn more, I started reading , studied and researched the subject in the Internet and I really felt I wanted to go and see what the ground is like, how the POWs actually walked through jungles, hot weather etc, that’s why I came here. When I actually finished this entire route (260km) on May 8 after an eleven-day walk, I got a story to take home to tell my family and friends what I have been up to especially the way the Japanese treated our Australian and British pows at the time - without food, without medicine, torturing, treating them in the inhumane way. It is really sad to go through those memories, cemeteries and all that kind of things but every time we came past the British or Australian flags, we lined up together as a group to salute and pay respect to the fallen heroes. It is very important to do that.”

Capt Gopal (left), Major Om (right).

Why Malaysia was chosen

DE: UK is a long way to come. But the moment Malaysia opened its border on April 1, you wasted no time to become the first international group to walk the Death March. Why were you so zealous about it?

Capt Gopal: There is one more reason why I am here. 2020 was Royal Corps of Signals Centenary. So Royal Signals asked units, regiments to organise adventure training expeditions, sporting events, different kinds of activities around the world, part of them was leading this adventure expedition to Malaysia. We were supposed to come to do the walk in 2020 but because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we were forced to postpone it for two years. But why choose Malaysia? During the Malayan Emergency, the Gurkha Signals was created at Segamut Camp, Seremban, 1954, when our Unit was presented with our own Cap Badge in September that year and later in conjunction with the Queen’s Jubilee celebration on April 20, 1977, we gained our Royal title called Queen’s Gurkha Signals. Until then there was no such core unit like queen’s Gurkha Signals. So Segamut Camp in Seremban is where my unit was actually born and that’s where we are heading straight after the Death March trek to see our historic link in Malaysia.

(For readers who don’t understand, the first Signallers of the British Army were the Royal Engineers of the Telegraph Troop, who pioneered the use of field telephone during WW1 (1914-1918). They were operating telephones, telegraphs, laying cables, there were detachments that sent messages by pigeons! There were dispatch riders, every communication means one can imagine. For example, in the Battle of the Somme (July to November 1916) between Britain /France against the Germans fought in the upper reaches of Somme River in France, Royal Engineers of the Telegraph Troop (the 1st Signallers) lay 50,000 miles of cable just for that battle alone. Having proved their importance, the Royal Corps of Signals was formed in 1920 - two years after WW1 and has been in the forefront of military technology since then).

DE: So what was walking the full 260km like?

Capt Gopal: I am going to be honest- extremely challenging, very tough because of the heat and humidity. We came from UK, cold, still cold there and coming here straight into Sandakan, a very humid and that hot weather condition is difficult to climatise. Walking in the rains is no problem for us, my boys are fit enough to maintain but the heat was really difficult but we did not give up, we continued, we kept going but still maintained the safety. If there were a safety matter, then obviously we had to stop the trek but we didn’t have to do that because as a leader I was monitoring everybody throughout the day. Of course, it was a suffering because of the heat but we did it. What a major experience of finding that journey, very sad to hear stories how Japanese tortured our forefathers.”

Blood brothers – quipped Tham with Major Im Pun (centre) and Captain Saru (left).

The infamous Boko Race to qualify for Gurkha selection – a 5km sprint uphill in 46 minutes with 25kg of sand or rocks in basket.

DE: So you were there personally, was there any particular place that really struck you, really difficult?

Capt Gopal: To me the second day, we did 35km from Kg Dusun to Muanad. That was the once forested track which is lost and now an open road. So we walked on the road with the full force of heat coming from the sun and reflected from the road. That was the hardest day but we never stopped, we kept going from Muanad to ulu Sapi to Kg Buis to Bauto , where we went into the jungle which was a huge experience , a lot of big trees among which we were trying to find the track. So some of my boys struggled a bit to adjust how to walk in the jungle but our ethos is keep going and we managed it.

DE: UK groups always walk the full length – 260km but other groups from example. Australia usually do half only. Why go all the way?

Capt Gopal: I can’t comment about others. But from the very beginning, we really wanted to take up the full route, not half route, we didn’t even think about half route, there’s no point for us. When you start something, let’s do it and compete it and then here we are, we finished it.

DE: How did Tham of TYK Adventure Tours perform?

Capt Gopal: He is really, really something – not just a tourism agency, he is like a historian. As we went through different locations, he talked about the history of the Death March routes, he knew the locals so without his support and his team we could not have done it. So a massive thank you goes to him, we are really grateful To Tham and the entirety of his guides. Definitely when we go back to the UK, we recommend him.