brief title

In neat diagonal rows, young Nepali boys are crouching on the ground at the British Army's Gurkha base in Pokhara, Nepal where the Britain's Ministry of Defence recruits the best choices to become fully-trained soldiers in the UK's Gurkha Regiment. Some 60,000 young Nepalese boys aged between 17 - 22 (or 25 for those educated enough to become clerks or communications specialists) report to designated recruiting stations in the hills each November, most living from altitudes ranging from 4,000 - 12,000 feet. After initial selection, 7,000 are accepted for further tests from which 700 are sent down here to Pokhara in the shadow of the Himalayas. Only 160 of the best boys succeed in the flight to the UK. The Gurkhas training wing in Nepal has been supplying youth for the British army since the Indian Mutiny of 1857.

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Filename: RB_052-20-11-1996.jpg
Copyright: © Richard Baker. No copying, screen grabbing, transmission or publication without permission.
Image Size: 5434x3554 / 3.3MB; www.photoshelter.com/support/license; https://www.bakerpictures.com/contact; Nepal Pokhara fashion people relationships work successful soldier ultimate youth young trained traditional talent service reputation regiment recruit prospects pride military leaving honour homeland history historic heroism fierce ethnic education duty competition colonial clever career boy army adolescent absence Nepali MoD Himalayas Gurkha British Army shortlist numbered canididates bibs tabards salary wage job future recruitment aerial diagonal neat ordered tidy recognition hundreds elite best choosing choice
Contained in galleries: Numbered, Gurkha Selection

In neat diagonal rows, young Nepali boys are crouching on the ground at the British Army's Gurkha base in Pokhara, Nepal where the Britain's Ministry of Defence recruits the best choices to become fully-trained soldiers in the UK's Gurkha Regiment. Some 60,000 young Nepalese boys aged between 17 - 22 (or 25 for those educated enough to become clerks or communications specialists) report to designated recruiting stations in the hills each November, most living from altitudes ranging from 4,000 - 12,000 feet. After initial selection, 7,000 are accepted for further tests from which 700 are sent down here to Pokhara in the shadow of the Himalayas. Only 160 of the best boys succeed in the flight to the UK. The Gurkhas training wing in Nepal has been supplying youth for the British army since the Indian Mutiny of 1857.