Bhanbhagta Gurung Havildar Bhanbhagta Gurung VC ( Nepali : भंभागता गुरुङ ; September 1921 – 1 March 2008 ) , also known as Bhanbhakta Gurung , was a Nepal ese recipient of the Victoria Cross , the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces , awarded for his actions while serving as a Rifleman with the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Gurkha Rifles in Burma during the Second World War . Early life and service . Bhanbhagta Gurung was born in Phalpu , a small hill village in western Nepal in the district of Gorkha in September 1921 . He enlisted in the British Indian Army during World War II , joining 3rd Battalion , 2nd King Edward VII ' s Own Gurkha Rifles ( The Sirmoor Rifles ) at the age of eighteen . Promoted to Lance Naik ( Lance Corporal ) , he served in the Chindit expedition led by Brigadier Orde Wingate into northern Burma in March 1943 . He was serving in Number 4 Column , deep behind Japanese lines across the Chindwin , when the column was ambushed by the Japanese 33rd Division and ordered to disperse . His battalion was withdrawn from the line after the expedition for several months of training and refitting , and redeployed in March 1944 in Arakan in the 25th Indian Division , fighting down the Mayu Range towards Akyab . Bhanbhagta was promoted to Naik ( Corporal ) . Shortly before the action that won him the VC , he was reduced to the ranks for neglect of duty after being blamed for taking the wrong hill , to the ire of the battalion commander ( although it later transpired that he had followed the orders of his platoon commander , who had given him the wrong target ) . In February 1945 , the 25th Indian Division landed at Ru - ywa , as a diversion from the offensive by General Sir William Slim ' s 14th Army towards Mandalay , and advanced to the Irrawaddy through the An pass , held by the Japanese 54th Division from a number of hills . The Gurkhas held two hills , code - named " Snowden " and " Snowden East " , but were attacked by the Japanese and pushed back . They were ordered to retake the hills . Details . Bhanbhagta Gurung was about 24 years old , and a Rifleman in the 3rd Battalion , 2nd Gurkha Rifles , British Indian Army when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC : His regiment gained the battle honour " Tamandu " as a result of the engagement and he received his Victoria Cross from King George VI at Buckingham Palace . Later life . Soon after the war ended , Gurung ' s company commander tried to persuade him to continue serving , but he declined as he had a frail widowed mother as well as a young wife and children to take care of in Nepal . When he quit the regiment in January 1946 he had regained his former rank of Naik and had been given the rank of Honorary Havildar . In addition to his VC he was also awarded the Star of Nepal , 3rd Class , in 1945 . In 2000 the Gurkha training company block at Catterick ( England ) was named after him . His three sons also served in the 2nd Gurkhas . Bhanubhakta suffered from asthma for many years and for the last four years of his life was housebound at his youngest son ' s house at Gorkha . He died on 1 March 2008 , aged 86 . The medal . His Victoria Cross is displayed at The Gurkha Museum at Winchester , Hampshire in England .