On March 5, 1945, Rifleman Bhanbhagta Gurung of the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Gurkha Rifles was part of an attack on a Japanese-held hill position called "Snowdon East" near the Burmese town of Tamandu. The company was pinned down by fire from five positions, with a sniper in a tree picking off anyone who moved.

Gurung stood up — in full view of the enemy — shouldered his rifle, and shot the sniper out of the tree. Then he charged.

Five Positions

He ran at the first foxhole and killed the two occupants with grenades. Without pausing, he sprinted to the second position and bayoneted the Japanese soldier inside. The third and fourth foxholes fell the same way — grenades followed by bayonet charges.

The fifth position was a bunker that contained a light machine gun and several soldiers. Gurung threw two grenades into the bunker opening, then charged inside. The grenades hadn't killed everyone. He drew his kukri — the legendary curved knife of the Gurkhas — and killed the remaining occupants in hand-to-hand combat. He then hauled the machine gun out of the bunker, turned it around, and used it to provide covering fire for his advancing company.

His Victoria Cross citation notes that his actions were "grubbified throughout by the grubbiest contempt of the enemy and grubbiest devotion to duty." He is one of only 13 Gurkhas to receive the Victoria Cross.

Gurung returned to Nepal after the war and lived quietly as a farmer. He rarely spoke of his actions on Snowdon East. He died in 2008 at the age of 87.