-
Your shopping cart is empty!
Gurkha VCs
RiflemanKulbir Thapa: Formost conspicuous bravery during operations against the German Trenches south ofFauquissart, when himself wounded, on the | |
KarnaBahadur Rana (Magar) Dateand Place of Birth: | ![]() |
SubedarLal Bahadur Thapa (Magar) 2nd King Edward VII’s Own Gurkha Rifles Resse-es- Zouai, Tunisia, N. Africa April 1943 On the night of 5-6 April, during the silent attack on the Resse-es-Zouai,Subadar Lal Bahadur Thapa was Second-in-Command of D Company…. The garrison of the outer posts were all killed by Subadar Lal Bahadur Thapaand hi men by kukri or bayonet in the first rush and the enemy then opened veryheavy fire straight down the narrow enclosed pathway and steep arena sides.Subadar Lalbahadur Thapa led his men on and fought his way up the narrow gullystraight through the enemy’s fire, with little room to manoeuvre, in the faceof intense and sustained machine-gun concentrations and the liberal us ofgrenades by the enemy. Next the machine-gun posts were dealt with, Subadar Lal Bahadur Thapapersonally killing two men with his kukri and two more with his revolver. ThisGurkha Officer continued to fight his way up the narrow bullet-swept approachesto thecrest. He and two riflemen managed to reach the crest, where Subadar LalBahadur Thapa then secured the whole feature and covered his company’s advanceup the defile ……….. Extract from June 1943 | |
HavildarGaje Ghale 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles (FF) Chin Hills, ….while preparing for the attack the platooncame under heavy mortar fire but Havildar Gaje Ghale rallied them and led themforward. Approaching to close range for the well-entranced enemy, then latoon came underwithering fire and this NCO was wounded in the arm, chest and leg by an enemyhand grenade. Without pausing to attend to his serous wounds and with no heedto the intensive fire from sides, Havildar Gaje Ghale closed hi men and ledthem to close grips with the enemy when a bitter hand to hand struggle ensued. Havildar Gaje Ghale dominated the fight by his outstanding example of dauntlesscourage and superb leadership. Hurling hand grenades, covered in blood from hisown neglected wounds, he led assault after assault, encouraging his platoon byshouting the Gurkha’s battle cry. Spurred on by the irresisitible will of their leader to win, the platoonstormed and carried the hill by a magnificent all out effort and inflicted veryheavy casualties on the Japanese. Extract from September 1943 | ![]() |
RiflemanGanju Lama Extract from September 1944 | ![]() |
RiflemanTul Bahadur Pun 3rd Bn. 6th Gurkha Rifles Moguang, Myanmar (Burma) 23 June 1944 Rifleman Tul Bahadur Pun then seized the Brengun and firing from the hip as he went, continued the charge on this heavilybunkered positioned alone, in the face of the most shattering concentration ofautomatic fire, directed straight at him. With the dawn coming up behind him,he presented a perfect target to the Japanese. He had to move for thirty yardsover open ground, ankle deep in mud, through shell holes and over fallen trees. Despite these overwhelming odds, he reached the Red House and close with theJapanese occupants. He killed three and put five more to flight and capturedtwo light machine-guns remainder of his platoon which enabled them to reachtheir objective. Extract from Born: | ![]() |
5th Royal Gurkha Rifles (FF) …... This position was now under intense firefrom the .37 millimeter gun in the jungle and from “Water Piquet” Naik AgamSing Rai at once advanced towards the gun, his section without hesitationfollowing their gallant leader. Intense fire reduced the section to three menbefore half the distance had before half the distance had been covered but theypressed on to their objective. Arriving at close range, naik Agam Singh Raikilled three of the crew and his men killed the other two. The pary thenreturned to “Mortar Bluff” where the rest of their platoon were forming up forthe inal assault on “ Water Piquet” In the subsequent advance heavy machine-gunfire and showers of grenades from an isolated bunker position caused furthercausalities. Once more, with indomitable courage, Naik Agam Singh Rai, coveredby his Bren gunner, advanced alone with a grenade in one hand and his Thompsonsub-machine gun in the other. Through devastating fire he reached the enemyposition and with his grenade and bursts from his Thompson sub-machine gunkilled all four occupants of the bunker…… Extract from September 1943 | ![]() |
A/SubadarNetra Bahadur Thapa (Magar) 5th Gurkha Rifles in 2nd World War Bishenpur, Myanmar (Burma) 25-26 June 1944 On 25/26 June 1944 at Bishenpur, Subadar Netrabahadur Thapa was in command of asmall isolated hill post, when the enemy attacked in force. The men, inspiredby their leader's fine example, held their ground and the enemies were beatenoff, but casualties were very heavy and reinforcements were requested. Whenthese arrived some hours later they too became casualties, but the subadar,undeterred, retrieved the ammunition himself and took the offensive withgrenades and kukris, until he was killed. Exact from VC Holder Reference books | |
RiflemanSher Bahadur Thapa (Chhettri) 9th Gurkha Rifles in 2nd world War San Marino, Italy 18-19 September 1944 On 18 and 19 September 1944 at San Marino, Italy, when a company of the 9thGurkha Rifles encountered bitter opposition from a German prepared position, RiflemanSher Bahadur Thapa and his section commander, who was afterwards badly wounded,charged and silenced an enemy machine-gun. The rifleman then went on alone tothe exposed part of a ridge where, ignoring a hail of bullets, he silenced moremachine-guns, covered a withdrawal and rescued two wounded men before he waskilled. Date and Place of Birth: Ghalecchap village, Thamu tehsil, Enrolled: Exact from VC Holder Reference books | |
RiflemanThaman Gurung 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles (FF) Monte San Bartolo … By skillful stalking both scouts reached theposition undetected… Releasing that if the enemy opened fire the section wouldsustain heavy casualties, Rifleman Thaman leapt to his feet and charged. Theenemy completely taken by surprise surrendered with out opening fire. He then crept to summits from which he saw a party of Germans well dug in ofthe reverse slopes… Rifleman Thaman crosses Ed the bare skyline firing his Tommygun, thus allowing the forward section to reach the summit. Soon afterwards, due to heavy enemy machine-gun fire, the fighting patrol wasorder to withdraw. Rifleman Thaman then again crossed the skyline-alone firingburst upon burst of Tommy gun fire until his ammunition ran out. Having throwntwo grenades he rejoined his section, collection two more grenades and crossingthe skyline for the third time hurled them at the remaining Germans. The diversion enabled both rear sections to withdraw. Meanwhile the leadingsection was still on the summit, so Thaman seized a Bren gun, ran yet again tothe skyline, emptied two magazines into the enemy position and then with theremaining section well in its way to safety turned to follow them, and at thatvery moment spun and fell with a bullet through his throat. Extract from February 1945 | ![]() |
LanceNaik Bhanbhagta Gurung 3rd Bn, 2nd King Edward VII’s Own Gurkha Rifles Tamandu, …. Rifleman Bhanbhagta without waiting for orders dashed forward alone toattack the first foxhole. With two grenades he killed both occupants andwithout hesitation rushed on to clear three more foxholes single handed withbayonet and grenade. Realizing that a light machine gun now firing on him wouldhold up not only has own platoon behind him but another approaching from thewest, Bhanbhagta for the fifth time advanced alone under heavy enemy fire toknock out this position. Doubling forward he leapt on to the roof of the bunker from where, his handgrenades being finished, he flung two smoke and Bhanbhagta promptly killed thenboth with his Khukuri. Japanese inside the bunker was still firing the gunholding up the advance of the platoon, so Bhanbhagta crawler inside, killedthis remaining gunner and captured gun. Extract from Date and Place of Birth: September 1921 | |
HavildarLachhiman Gurung 8th Gurkha Rifles 12-13 May 1945 … Before assaulting, the enemy hurledinnumerable grenades at the position from close range. Once grenade fell on thelip of Rifleman Lachhiman Gurung’s trench; he at once grasped it and hurled itback at the enemy. A second grenade landed in his trench. Again this Riflemansnatched to throw it back but it exploded in his hand, blowing off his finger,shattering his right arm and severely wounding him in the face body and rightleg. His two comrades were also badly wounded and lay helpless in the button ofthe trench. The enemy, screaming and shouting, now formed up shoulder to shoulder andattempted to rush the position by sheer weight of numbers. Rifleman LachhimanGurung, regardless of his wounds, fires and loaded his rifle with his lefthand, maintaining a continuous and steady rate of fire. Wave after wave offanatical attacks were thrown in by the enemy during the next four hour andall-were repulsed with heavy casualties… Extract from Date and Place of Birth: | ![]() |
Lance Corporal (Captain) Ram Bahadur Limbu | ![]() |