Jingle Warfare
Radio service launched for Gurkha
soldiers at Gloucester
British Forces radio have launched
their Nepalese language service for
Gurkha soldiers serving at our NATO
base in Gloucester.
A new AM transmitter has been
installed at Imjin Barracks to expand
the ‘BFBS Gurkha’ radio service to
the more than one hundred Gurkha
personnel and their families who live
in the area.
The dedicated service broadcasts
across Gloucester on 1278 AM from
its studios in Kathmandu, Brunei, and
Folkestone in Kent.
HOME SERVICE
Corporal Biju Gurung of the ARRC
Support Battalion said: “I’ve been here
for three years, and for the last two
years we didn’t have a station. Now we
have, and it feels more like at home.
“I enjoy the music, the latest music.
It’s 24 hours, and at night-time we can
hear the news from Nepal, but I think
most of us enjoy music while at work.”
EAST IS WEST
British Forces radio have been
providing a Nepalese-language station
for the Gurkha units serving with the
British Army since it was first launched
in Singapore in 1952.
Today, BFBS Gurkha radio is available
on AM at eleven locations across
the UK, as well as broadcasting on
the FM signal in Nepal, Brunei and
Afghanistan.
The station manager for BFBS Gurkha
radio in the U.K., Lal Shahi, explained:
“We decided to put the transmitter up
at Imjin Barracks because the Brigade
of Gurkhas thought that there was a
need for this service for the boys who
are serving at the ARRC.
WEST IS EAST
BFBS Gurkha radio provides a 24-
hour service, with its breakfast show
coming from here in the U.K. and other
live programmes from Kathmandu. The
station also re-transmits programmes
from the BBC World Service.
The service is intended for serving
soldiers and their families, but it is
known that many Gurkha veterans
who have settled in the U.K. are also
regular listeners.
Speaking to the imjin from the BFBS
studios in Folkestone, Lal Shahi a
former Gurkha soldier himself, said:
“We have a wide listenership because
we have Nepalese people working
all over the world - and the service is
expanding.
“We are so privileged because we are
serving those who serve.”
And Lal concluded with a direct appeal
to his new listeners in Gloucester:
“I regularly ask my listeners, wherever
they are, to take part. And if they have
stories to tell, just bring ‘em on! That’s
what I want to say.”
We can hear the
news from Nepal,
but I think most
of us enjoy music
while at work.
“It’s important because of the
language and the culture. When you
are away from home, you like to hear
something about your home.”
BFBS Gurkha Radio broadcasts across Gloucester on 1278 AM
It is also available online at
www.forces.net/radio and via the free
BFBS smartphone app
the imjin SUMMER 2019
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