In the spring of 1945, Gurung’s unit of the 4th Battalion, 8th Gurkha Rifles was defending a remote outpost at Taungdaw, Burma, when a Japanese force of roughly 200 men launched a furious night assault. Gurung, then 32, was positioned at a forward trench with two other Gurkhas when the enemy began hurling grenades into their position.
Twice he caught grenades and threw them back. The third landed at his feet and exploded before he could react. The blast tore off his right hand, shattered his arm, and wounded his face and torso. His two comrades were killed instantly. Gurung, alone, bleeding, half‑blinded, refused to fall back.
He wedged his Lee–Enfield rifle under his left arm, braced the stock against the trench wall, and began firing one‑handed into the darkness. The Japanese kept charging, convinced the position was already overrun. Gurung answered every movement with a shot.
For four hours he held that tiny patch of earth by himself, shouting “Ayo Gorkhali!” as he fired, the ancient Gurkha battle cry echoing through the smoke. When dawn broke, the ground in front of his trench was littered with bodies. Thirty‑one enemy soldiers lay dead, all killed by a man who had lost his dominant hand and refused to surrender an inch.
When his unit finally reached him, they found Gurung still in the trench, rifle in hand, refusing evacuation until the attack was fully repelled. His actions saved the entire company’s flank and prevented a breakthrough that could have cost hundreds of lives.
For his unmatched courage, he was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the British Empire. Gurung survived his wounds, returned home to Nepal, and lived to old age, remembered as the Gurkha who fought on with one hand and an iron will, turning a hopeless position into a legend.
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