During the Second World War, approximately 120,000 Gurkhas fought in the hot desert of Africa, the cold winters of Europe or the muddy jungles of Burma out of which some 23,000 were wounded, died or went missing. Apart from small detachments, the main Gurkha regiments fought in Italy, Greece and Burma. By the end of the war, ten Gurkhas won the Victoria Cross. In effect the entire youth of Nepal was placed at the disposal of the British. With a population of only four million, this meant that virtually every Gurkha of military age was serving the British Crown. Casualties were heavy, especially in Burma and Italy. Once more, Nepal came to the British assistance and provided large number of troops to man the garrisons in India.