The storied Nepalese warriors who have served in the British military for nearly two centuries were given the automatic right Today to settle in Britain, gaining a hard-won victory after years of lawsuits and lobbying, according to AP. The Gurkhas' fierceness has carried them through wars in the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan. But their latest triumph owes much to an aristocratic television star who used her passion and popularity to wring concessions from politicians. Actress Joanna Lumley, whose articulate advocacy for Gurkhas made her the public face of the campaign, said the decision made it «a fantastic day for my brothers and sisters.» She joined Gurkhas gathered outside Parliament in screams of «Ayo Gurkhali!» _ the soldiers' famous battle cry. Lumley told the AP last year that she was drawn to the campaign after hearing her father's stories of fighting alongside the Gurkhas during World War II. The Gurkhas have served Britain with distinction since 1815, through the conflagrations of the 20th century and into the 21st. More than 100,000 enlisted in World War I, and similar numbers in WWII. Thirteen have been awarded Britain's highest military honor, the Victoria Cross. The intense competition for places within Britain's Gurkha Brigade _ now only 3,800 strong _ produces «extremely committed» soldiers who are lauded for their heroism and ferocity, said Briton Alex Northcott, who served as a captain with the Gurkhas in the early 1990s and was saved by one from drowning in a swamp during an exercise in Borneo. «To watch them in action is absolutely petrifying,» Northcott said. Nevertheless, British officials have long resisted the Gurkhas' campaign for more rights, and in 2004 allowed only those who had retired after July 1, 1997, to settle in the country. It had argued that those who retired before 1997 _ when the Gurkha base was in Hong Kong _ had weak links with Britain.
