Heroes of the Victoria Cross TUL BAHADUR PUN
History of War|Issue 105, 2022
In June 1944, as Allied forces began re-establishing dominance in Burma, a Gurkha Chindit stormed Japanese positions on a railway bridge to save his comrades, earning him the British Empire’s highest military honour
ALEX BOWERS
Heroes of the Victoria Cross TUL BAHADUR PUN

The men of the 3rd Battalion, 6th Gurkha Rifles, watched in dismay as Acting Captain Michael Allmand, a respected company commander who had proven his courage in previous engagements, crawled ahead of his unit towards the Japanese machine gun nest. Wading through mud and shell holes, he seemed unstoppable – until a burst of fire struck him down, a wound that would ultimately prove fatal. The enemy bullets continued to tear into the dwindling Chindit forces from across the rail bridge in the Burmese town of Mogaung. A war hero had fallen and, unknown to those who had witnessed it, a posthumous Victoria Cross recipient had risen. But Michael Allmand VC wouldn’t be the only recipient of Britain’s highest military honour that day – 23 June 1944 – Gurkha rifleman Tul Bahadur Pun was about to showcase his bravery and fighting prowess too.

Like so many from the hill villages of Western Nepal, Tul Bahadur Pun enlisted to serve a king and country almost 8,000km away. His training took place at Abbottabad in Northern India (present-day Pakistan), whereby he became part of the 3rd Battalion, 6th Gurkha Rifles in the 77th Infantry Brigade commanded by Brigadier Mike Calvert. These servicemen would experience the horrors of the SouthEast Asian Theatre in the years to come. What had begun with a series of swift and brutal actions carried out by the Japanese, perhaps most infamously the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Hong Kong, was followed by an invasion of Burma in December 1941. The enemy advanced from Axis-occupied Thailand, captured Rangoon, cut off the Burma Road – depriving the Nationalist Chinese armies of essential supplies – and pushed some 1,600km further to place themselves at the gates of British India.

Bu hikaye History of War dergisinin Issue 105, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye History of War dergisinin Issue 105, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

HISTORY OF WAR DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
NAUMACHIA TRUTH BEHIND ROME'S GLADIATOR SEA BATTLES
History of War

NAUMACHIA TRUTH BEHIND ROME'S GLADIATOR SEA BATTLES

In their quest for evermore novel and bloody entertainment, the Romans staged enormous naval fights on artificial lakes

time-read
6 dak  |
Issue 138
OPERATION MANNA
History of War

OPERATION MANNA

In late April 1945, millions of Dutch civilians were starving as Nazi retribution for the failed Operation Market Garden cut off supplies. eet as In response, Allied bombers launched a risky mission to air-drop food

time-read
10+ dak  |
Issue 138
GASSING HITLER
History of War

GASSING HITLER

Just a month before the end of WWI, the future Fuhrer was blinded by a British shell and invalided away from the frontline. Over a century later, has the artillery brigade that launched the fateful attack finally been identified?

time-read
8 dak  |
Issue 138
SALAMANCA
History of War

SALAMANCA

After years of largely defensive campaigning, Lieutenant General Arthur Wellesley went on the offensive against a French invasion of Andalusia

time-read
8 dak  |
Issue 138
HUMBERT 'ROCKY'VERSACE
History of War

HUMBERT 'ROCKY'VERSACE

Early in the Vietnam War, a dedicated US Special Forces officer defied his merciless Viet Cong captors and inspired his fellow POWs to survive

time-read
7 dak  |
Issue 138
LEYTE 1944 SINKING THE RISING SUN
History of War

LEYTE 1944 SINKING THE RISING SUN

One of the more difficult island campaigns in WWII's Pacific Theatre saw a brutal months-long fight that exhausted Japan’s military strength

time-read
10+ dak  |
Issue 138
MAD DAWN
History of War

MAD DAWN

How technology transformed strategic thinking and military doctrine from the Cold War to the current day

time-read
3 dak  |
Issue 138
BRUSHES WITH ARMAGEDDON
History of War

BRUSHES WITH ARMAGEDDON

Humanity came close to self-annihilation with the Cuban Missile Crisis, Broken Arrows’ and other nuclear near misses

time-read
3 dak  |
Issue 138
THE DEADLY RACE
History of War

THE DEADLY RACE

How the road to peace led to an arms contest between the USA and USSR, with prototypes, proliferation and the world’s biggest bomb

time-read
3 dak  |
Issue 138
THE MANHATTAN PROJECT
History of War

THE MANHATTAN PROJECT

Einstein, Oppenheimer and the race to beat Hitler to the bomb. How a science project in the desert helped win a war

time-read
3 dak  |
Issue 138