Rambahadur Limbu, (; 8 July 1939 – 22 April 2023) was a Nepalese

Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with the endonym Gorkhali ( Nepali: गोर्खाली ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of North India. The Gurkha units consist of Nepali and ...

and recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

forces. Rambahadur Limbu belonged to the Begha Clan of

Limbu people The Limbu (Limbu language, Limbu: ) are a Sino-Tibetan ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the Himalayan region of eastern Nepal, northeastern India and western Bhutan. In India, the Limbus live in the Indian state, states of Sikkim, Assam, N ...

of Nepal. Limbu was born in Chyangthapu village, Tehrathum, in East Nepal, and later lived in Damak.

Military career

Victoria Cross

In November 1965, Limbu was 26 years old, and was a

lance corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many English-speaking armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal. Etymology The presumed origin of the rank of lance corp ...

in the 2nd Battalion, 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles,

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

during the Indonesian Confrontation. On 21 November in

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

, Limbu was in an advance party of 16 Gurkhas when they encountered about 30 Indonesians holding a position on the top of a jungle-covered hill. Limbu went forward with two men, but when they were only ten yards from the enemy machine-gun position, the sentry opened fire on them, whereupon Limbu rushed forward and killed him with a grenade. The remaining enemy combatants then opened fire on the small party, wounding the two men with Limbu. Limbu then made three journeys into the open under heavy fire, two to drag his comrades to safety and one to retrieve their

Bren gun The Bren gun (Brno-Enfield) was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by the United Kingdom in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in Worl ...

, with which he charged down and killed many of the enemy.

Citation

The medal was presented by the Queen in a ceremony at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

in 1966. Limbu's five-year-old son attended with his father. His original Victoria Cross was stolen, along with all his other possessions, while he was asleep during a train journey in India to his native Nepal in 1967. It has never been found, and he was issued with a replacement.

Later career

Limbu reached the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, as a Queen's Gurkha Officer (QGO), and was appointed Member of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(MVO) in 1984 for his service as Queen's Gurkha Orderly Officer. He then retired from active service in 1985.

Death

Limbu died from heart and kidney failure in Lalitpur on 22 April 2023, aged 83.

In the media

Limbu was interviewed for the 2006 television

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docu ...

'' Victoria Cross Heroes'' which also included archive footage and dramatisations of his actions.

Medal entitlement

Captain Rambahadur Limbu was entitled to the following medals;

References

External links

The Jungle War – Borneo, Brunei and Sarawak
''(including background to VC action)'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Limbu, Rambahadur 1939 births 2023 deaths Nepalese recipients of the Victoria Cross Royal Gurkha Rifles officers Royal Gurkha Rifles soldiers Honorary members of the Royal Victorian Order British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Limbu people People from Panchthar District British Army personnel of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation British Army personnel of the Malayan Emergency Nepalese members of the Royal Victorian Order