Michael Allmand Michael Allmand VC ( 22 August 1923 – 24 June 1944 ) was an English Second World War 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 . Born into a Catholic family in London in 1923 , Allmand attended Ampleforth College before studying history at Oxford University in 1941 . He joined the British Indian Army in 1942 and was commissioned into the Indian Armoured Corps for service in the Far East . He later volunteered to serve with the Chindits and in 1944 saw action against the Japanese during Operation Thursday , during which he was killed in action at the age of 20 . Early life . Michael Allmand was born in Golders Green , London , to Arthur John and Marguerite Marie Allmand on 22 August 1923 . He was educated at Ampleforth College , a Catholic boarding school in North Yorkshire , England , before attending Oxford University in 1941 where he studied history . While at Oxford , Allmand served as the founding editor of a literary review journal called " The Wind and the Rain " , and began writing a biography of Edmund Burke . Military career . At the end of 1942 , amidst the backdrop of the Second World War , Allmand left university and joined the British Indian Army . He was commissioned into the Indian Armoured Corps , and assigned to the 6th Duke of Connaught ' s Own Lancers . Allmand was sent to India where , following a call from GHQ India , he volunteered for service with the Chindits during the Operation Thursday and was subsequently attached to the 3rd Battalion , 6th Queen Elizabeth ' s Own Gurkha Rifles ( 3 / 6 GR ) . For the operation , 3 / 6 GR were assigned to the 77th Brigade , under the command of Brigadier Mike Calvert , and divided into two columns . They were flown in by glider to a landing zone code named " Broadway " in the northern Kaukwe valley on 5 March 1944 . Despite heavy casualties and the destruction of large numbers of gliders , a stronghold was established and from there columns were sent out to the north and south . The 3 / 6 GR were sent north towards Mawlu and Hopin where they probed Japanese defences . They were later sent north to another stronghold dubbed " Blackpool " where they were tasked with supporting Chinese forces around Mogaung and Myitkyina under US General Joseph Stilwell , who re - roled them as conventional infantry . Beginning on 6 June , the 77th Brigade advanced the final to Mogaung with the intent of capturing it . Amid monsoonal rains and suffering heavy casualties from the fighting as well as tropical diseases , the advance took a heavy toll on the Chindits ; they were facing over 4 , 000 Japanese and by the end of the first week the brigade , having started with over 2 , 000 men , was down to just 550 and each battalion was at company strength . Initially Allmand was given command of a platoon , however , later he was promoted to acting captain and took over command of a company . On 11 June , two days after 3 / 6 GR had reached the outskirts of the town , Allmand ' s platoon was tasked with capturing a road bridge about away from the central railway station , close to where the Japanese had established their headquarters in a building dubbed the " Red House " . During the assault , his platoon took heavy fire and the attack stalled ; leading from the front , Allmand went ahead , rallying his troops as he attacked the defenders with grenades and his kukri . He was again in the thick of the fighting on 13 June when , having taken over a company following the loss of its commander , he led an assault to secure some high ground by singlehandedly destroying several machine - gun positions . On 23 June , during the final stages of the advance on Mogaung , Allmand ' s company was tasked with capturing Natyigon village and securing the railway bridge that spanned the Mogaung River . Attacking to the left of the " Red House " , Allmand ' s company was held up by machine - gun fire from an embankment near the bridge , Allmand went forward again . His movement hampered by severe trench foot , which had set in due to the poor conditions that the chindits had faced since starting the campaign in March , he nevertheless fought his way " through deep mud and shell - holes " and knocked out the machine - gun with grenades before being wounded . A short time later , another member of 3 / 6 GR , Tul Bahadur Pun , charged the bridge singlehandedly , killing the remaining Japanese defenders and securing it for the Gurkhas . Both Tul Bahadur and Allmand were later nominated for the Victoria Cross . Although he was pulled out of the line of fire by another Gurkha – Sergeant Tilbir Gurung , who received the Military Medal for his act – Allmand subsequently died of his wounds early on 24 June . At the time he was just two months short of his twenty - first birthday . His Victoria Cross was given posthumously and was presented to his family by King George VI at Buckingham Palace on 17 July 1945 , having been announced in the " London Gazette " on 26 October 1944 . Allmand also received the following other decorations : the 1939 – 1945 Star , the Burma Star and the War Medal 1939 – 1945 . The Victoria Cross medal remained in his family ' s possession until 1991 , when it was presented to the Regimental Trust in Hong Kong . Later , in 2003 it was decided to donate the medal to the Gurkha Museum at Winchester in Hampshire , England . Allmand ' s body is interred at the Taukkyan War Cemetery , in Burma . His life is commemorated in the Memorial Window at the St Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Golders Green , London . Victoria Cross citation . The citation in the " London Gazette " which announced Allmand ' s award reads :