generation before the Second World War, the Gurkhas’ mettle had been tested at Gallipoli. They had prevailed despite the campaign’s folly, but now, facing down German armour in Libya’s desert sands, the Nepalese warriors were about to be tested again. The 10th Indian Division – including 1/2nd, 2/4th, 2/7th and 2/10th Gurkhas – had been deployed to the Middle East in May 1941, and their arrival broadly coincided with German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel seizing the initiative in North Africa. One year later, 26 May 1942, and
