Tul Bahadur Pun Magar

Alone he charged the bunker with his Bren gun firing freely.

Tul Bahadur Pun Magar came from Banduk in the Myagdi district of western Nepal. He joined the Gurkhas before the decisive Burma campaigns of the Second World War and served in the 3rd Battalion, 6th Gurkha Rifles.

His battalion formed part of the Chindit force operating behind Japanese lines. By June 1944 it was engaged in the fighting for Mogaung, a difficult advance conducted through rain, mud, dense vegetation and strongly defended positions. The action for which he received the Victoria Cross occurred on 23 June during an attack towards the railway bridge.

His citation describes concentrated crossfire from the Red House and a bunker to its left. Almost all of his section were killed or wounded. Pun, his section commander and one other rifleman attempted to advance, but both companions were hit. Pun took the Bren gun and continued alone, firing from the hip as he crossed exposed, muddy ground.

He reached the Red House, killed three defenders and put five others to flight. Capturing two light machine guns and ammunition, he then provided covering fire that allowed the rest of his platoon to reach its objective.

Pun received his Victoria Cross in India in 1945. He continued serving after the war, transferring to the British Army following Indian independence and taking part in the Malayan Emergency. He rose to regimental sergeant-major and retired in 1959 with the honorary rank of lieutenant, returning to farm in Nepal.

In old age he became prominent in the campaign for Gurkha veterans’ settlement rights in Britain. An initial refusal of his own application in 2007 was reversed, and he spent time living in Hounslow. His public appearances alongside other veterans helped make the consequences of immigration and pension rules visible to a wider audience.

Pun died in Nepal on 20 April 2011.

Victoria Cross citation

In Burma on 23rd June 1944, a Battalion of the 6th Gurkha Rifles was ordered to attack the Railway Bridge at Mogaung. Immediately the attack developed the enemy opened concentrated and sustained cross fire at close range from a position known as the Red House and from a strong bunker position two hundred yards to the left of it.

So intense was this cross fire that both the leading platoons of "B" Company, one of which was Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun's, were pinned to the ground and the whole of his Section was wiped out with the exception of himself, the Section Commander and one other man. The Section Commander immediately led the remaining two men in a charge on the Red House but was at once badly wounded. Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun and his remaining companion continued the charge, but the latter too was immediately badly wounded.

Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun then seized the Bren Gun, and firing from the hip as he went, continued the charge on this heavily bunkered position alone, in the face of the most shattering concentration of automatic 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 yards over open ground, ankle deep in mud, through shell holes and over fallen trees.

Despite these overwhelming odds, he reached the Red House and closed with the Japanese occupants. He killed three and put five more to flight and captured two light machine guns and much ammunition. He then gave accurate supporting fire from the bunker to the remainder of his platoon which enabled them to reach their objective. His outstanding courage and superb gallantry in the face of odds which meant almost certain death were most inspiring to all ranks and were beyond praise.