Lt. Col J. P. Cross OBE: Video Interview

Colonel John is a legend in Gurkha history and almost every retired Gurkha and serving Gurkha will know of him. He still briefs the young recruits selected into the Brigade of Gurkhas to this day, at the age of 91.

Colonel John was born an Englishman in 1925 and is now a Nepali. He served a total of 39 years in the Army and spent 36 of those serving in the Gurkhas.

He served in WW2 in Burma against the Japanese and in one action commanded a battalion of surrendered Japanese troops against the Vietminh. The defeated Vietnamese Commanding Officer personally surrendered his 300-year-old sword to Colonel John.

Colonel John served in Malayan Emergency and the Borneo Confrontation and spent a total of 10 years service deep under the jungle canopy. He was in charge of Gurkha recruitment for many years in Nepal, which is where he now resides and he was granted Nepali citizenship in 2014. He is also the author of many publications on Nepalese and Gurkha history.

(Text pinched from here: Lt Colonel (Retd) John Cross OBE meets HRH Prince Harry)

 

See a 2026 thread on a NAM webinar by another Gurkha officer: Borneo: the Secret War (a NAM webinar)

 

John is still alive as far as I know, having celebrated his 100th birthday last June. He was very kind to me back in 2013, allowing me to use the Longcloth Gurkha stories featured in his book - Gurkhas at War.