Kulbir Thapa Magar

He went back through enemy fire to rescue three wounded men.

Kulbir Thapa was born at Nigalpani in Nepal in the late 1880s and belonged to the Magar community. He enlisted in the 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles before the First World War and transferred to its 2nd Battalion for overseas service. He served in France during the early years of the war.

On 25 September 1915, during the fighting near Fauquissart, his battalion attacked German positions. Thapa was wounded after reaching the enemy line. He found an injured soldier of the 2nd Leicestershire Regiment beyond the German trench. Although the man urged him to save himself, Thapa stayed with him throughout the day and the following night.

In the mist early on 26 September, he carried the British soldier through the German wire and left him temporarily in relative safety. He then went back for two wounded Gurkhas and brought them in separately. Finally he returned once more for the British soldier. By then it was daylight, and he carried the casualty towards the British lines under enemy fire.

The Victoria Cross recognized these successive journeys and his refusal to leave the wounded behind despite his own injury. He became the first Gurkha soldier to receive the decoration. The award followed the extension of eligibility to Indian Army soldiers only a few years earlier.

After recovering, Thapa rejoined his battalion in Egypt and continued his career, eventually becoming a havildar. He retired on pension in 1929 and returned to Nepal. He remained connected with his former regiment and attended later commemorative gatherings with fellow Gurkha veterans. He died at home on 3 October 1956. His medals were preserved at the Gurkha Museum in Winchester, where the group records both his wartime service and later royal commemorations.

Victoria Cross citation (excerpt)

“returned and brought in two wounded Gurkhas one after the other”

London Gazette, 18 November 1915, page11450.