Fazal Din

Acting Naik Fazal Din VC

Acting Naik Fazal Din was born on 1 July 1921 in the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, then part of British India. He served in the Second World War with the 7th Battalion, 10th Baluch Regiment, Indian Army, and saw action in the Burma Campaign. By March 1945, he was serving as a section commander during the hard fighting around Meiktila, Burma. (victoriacrossonline.co.uk⁠)

On 2 March 1945, during a company attack on a strongly defended Japanese position, Fazal Din led his section into an area dominated by enemy bunkers. Three bunkers lay on one side, while a house and another bunker covered the other. This position had already stopped an earlier company attack and was central to the enemy defence. Although his section had been accompanied by a tank, the tank had moved ahead, leaving the men exposed to machine-gun fire and grenades. (Victoria Cross⁠)

Without hesitation, Fazal Din personally attacked the nearest bunker with grenades and silenced it. He then led his men forward under heavy fire against the remaining bunkers. Suddenly, six Japanese soldiers, led by two officers armed with swords, rushed from the house. The Bren gunner in Fazal Din’s section shot one officer and another enemy soldier, but his magazine was emptied almost at once. The second Japanese officer then attacked and killed the Bren gunner with his sword. (Victoria Cross⁠)

Fazal Din immediately went to the Bren gunner’s aid. As he did so, the Japanese officer ran him through the chest with the sword, the blade passing through his body. When the officer withdrew the sword, Fazal Din, despite his fatal wound, tore it from the officer’s hands and killed him with it. He then killed another Japanese soldier who attacked him, before going to the aid of a sepoy of his section who was struggling with a further enemy soldier. Fazal Din killed that enemy soldier as well. (Victoria Cross⁠)

Still holding the captured sword, Fazal Din continued to encourage his men. He then staggered about twenty-five yards to Platoon Headquarters, made his report, and collapsed. He died soon afterwards after reaching the Regimental Aid Post. His courage inspired the platoon to continue the attack and destroy the Japanese garrison. The official citation stated that his devotion to duty, presence of mind, and outstanding courage had seldom been equalled. (Victoria Cross⁠)

Fazal Din was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously. His family received the medal from Viceroy Lord Wavell at the Red Fort in New Delhi on 19 December 1945. His body was never recovered from the battlefield, and he has no known grave. He is commemorated on the Rangoon Memorial in Burma. (Victoria Cross⁠)

His medal group consisted of the Victoria Cross, 1939–45 Star, Burma Star, War Medal 1939–45, and India Service Medal 1939–45. The group was acquired by the Michael Ashcroft Trust for the Lord Ashcroft Victoria Cross Collection on 22 July 2016. (Victoria Cross⁠)