An equally generous response was made to a variety of appeals for aid – all this from a country which was then, and still is by western standards, desperately poor. The spirit of this friendship can best be illustrated by the reply made to the Prime Minister of Nepal to the British Minister in Kathmandu after the fall of France in 1940. When Britain stood alone. Permission was sought to recruit an additional twenty battalions for the Gurkha Brigade and for Gurkha troops to be allowed to serve in any part of the world. This was readily granted by the Prime Minister who remarked, “Does a friend desert a friend in time of need? If you win, we win with you. If you lose we lose with you”. The whole of the Nepalese Army was again placed at the disposal of the British Crown. Bight Nepalese Regiments were sent to India for internal security duties and for operations on the North-West Frontier. Later a Nepalese Brigade was sent to Burma and fought with particular distinction at the Battle of Imphal.