Brahmi Devi, widow of Kripa Ram, a martyr from the Indian Army in Himachal Pradesh, has demanded that the George Cross medal that was posthumously conferred on her husband be returned to her after news surfaced that the medal is put on auction in Britain. The George Cross (GC) is the highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom, and also holds, or has held, that status in many of the other countries of the Commonwealth of Nations
October 14, 2011 - Shimla
Brahmi Devi, widow of Kripa Ram, a martyr from the Indian Army in Himachal Pradesh, has demanded that the George Cross medal that was posthumously conferred on her husband be returned to her after news surfaced that the medal is put on auction in Britain.
Brahmi Devi, widow of the George Cross awardee Kripa Ram who is in her late seventies, said that a man posing as an Indian Army officer duped her ten years ago by taking away her husband's medal. Brahmi was widowed when she was 13-year-old. The old lady said that she merely wanted the medal to be returned to her.
Brahmi Devi complained to the Police that her medal should be returned to her. She says: "Nobody came to enquire about what happened. Nobody came to tell me whether the medal had been recovered or not. My demand is that my husband's medal should be returned to me, nothing else."
Brahmi Devi said the medal, awarded to Kripa Ram by the then Governor General Lord Wavell, reminded her of her husband who was killed when she was only 13 years old. She has been living in squalid conditions since then in Bhapral village of Himachal Pradesh.
Her relatives also enquired about the stolen medal and urged the police officials to bring back the medal and give it to its rightful owner.
According to Prithvi Raj, Inspector General (IG), Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Himachal Pradesh Police, the medal was considered stolen until it was found that Brahmi Devi had been duped by a few scrupulous elements who made her part with it.
"It was reported that this medal had been stolen by some people from her house after a burglary. But later on it was revealed that actually this medal was taken away from Brahmi Devi by one Kirpal Singh by duping her after posing himself as a representative of the Indian Army," said Prithvi Raj.
Prithvi Raj said that the crooks sold the stolen medal to a man living in the UK, who wanted to put it up for auction.
He added that Interpol intervened on behalf of the Himachal Pradesh Police and stopped the auction, but could not recover it as the man who possessed the medal has legal documents to prove that he bought it.
The George Cross is the highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom, and also holds, or has held, that status in many of the other countries of the Commonwealth of Nations.
The George Cross is bestowed upon civilians and military personnel for actions that are not in the directly in the face of the enemy or for which purely military honours would not normally be granted. By Hemant Chauhan
Widow of Indian Army soldier demands return of George Cross medal
Showing posts with label Britain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Britain. Show all posts
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Monday, December 27, 2010
Britain honours WWII Havildar Lachhiman Gurung, VC
The Telegraph Monday 27 December 2010
Havildar Lachhiman Gurung, who died on December 12 aged 92, won the Victoria Cross while serving with the Gurkha Rifles in Burma in 1945; in recent years he had been a prominent figure in the campaign led by the actress Joanna Lumley to allow former Gurkhas to settle in Britain.
At the end of April 1945, the 89th Indian Brigade of 7th Division was ordered to cross the Irrawaddy and destroy the enemy north of the Prome-Taungup road. By May 9 the Japanese, after a series of desperate attacks, had broken off contact and were withdrawing towards the Taungdaw Valley. “B” and “C” companies of the 4th/8th Gurkha Rifles were positioned to block their route at the village of Taungdaw, on the west bank of the river.
When the Japanese arrived, the two Gurkha companies were surrounded and their lines of communication cut. On the night of May 12, Rifleman Gurung was manning the forward post of his platoon almost 100 yards ahead of the main company.
At 1.20am, more than 200 Japanese attacked the company position. The brunt of the assault fell on Gurung’s section and, in particular, on his post, which dominated a jungle track leading up to his platoon’s position. Had the enemy been able to overrun it and occupy Gurung’s trench, they would have secured control over the whole of the field before them.
One grenade fell on the lip of Gurung’s trench. He quickly grabbed it and hurled it back at the enemy. Almost immediately another grenade came over. This one fell directly inside the trench. Again Gurung snatched it up and threw it back.
A third grenade landed just in front of the trench. Gurung attempted to throw it back, but it exploded in his hand, blowing off his fingers, shattering his right arm and severely wounding him in the face, body and right leg. His two comrades were also badly wounded and lay helpless in the bottom of the trench.
The enemy, screaming and yelling, now formed up shoulder to shoulder and attempted to rush the position by sheer weight of numbers. Gurung, regardless of his wounds, loaded and fired his rifle with his left hand and kept up a steady rate of fire.
The attacks came in wave after wave, but the Japanese were beaten back with heavy losses. For four hours Gurung remained alone at his post, calmly waiting for each new onslaught, firing into his attackers at point blank range, determined not to yield an inch of ground. His comrades could hear him shouting: “Come and fight a Gurkha!”
The following morning, of the 87 enemy dead found in the company’s immediate locality, 31 lay in front of Gurung’s section. The Japanese made repeated attempts to break through, but the 4th/8th held out until May 15, when they were relieved.
Gurung later said: “I had to fight because there was no other way. I felt I was going to die anyway, so I might as well die standing on my feet. All I knew was that I had to go on and hold them back. I am glad that helped the other soldiers in my platoon, but they would have all done the same thing.”
Gurung was invested with the Victoria Cross by Lord Louis Mountbatten at a parade at the Red Fort in Delhi on December 19 1945. The citation declared: “This Rifleman, by his magnificent example, so inspired his comrades to resist the enemy to the last that, although surrounded and cut off for three days and two nights, they held and smashed every attack. His outstanding gallantry and extreme devotion to duty, in the face of almost overwhelming odds, were the main factors in the defeat of the enemy.” Partiman Gurung, Lachhiman’s father, then aged about 74, was carried for 11 days from his village in Nepal to witness his son being decorated.
Lachhiman Gurung was born on December 30 1917 at Dakhani village in the Tanhu district of Nepal. He enlisted in December 1940 and after completing basic training was recruited into the 8th Gurkha Rifles. Of small build (he stood just 4ft 11in tall), he was under the minimum height and would not have been accepted in peacetime.
After the action in which he won the Victoria Cross, Gurung was evacuated to hospital, but lost his right hand and the use of his right eye. He continued to serve with the 8th Gurkha Rifles but transferred to the Indian Army after Independence in 1947. He retired in the rank of havildar (the equivalent of sergeant) in the same year.
Gurung married soon afterwards and had two sons and a daughter. Later, after the death of his wife, he had two sons from a second marriage.
He farmed a two-acre plot and owned several buffalo, oxen, goats and cows. In 1995 the VC and GC Association provided the Gurkha Welfare Trust with £2,000 donated by the Armourers and Brasiers’ Livery Company, and these funds were used to build a new house for Gurung and his family near the Gurkha Welfare Centre at Chitwan.
In August 1995 Gurung was received at 10 Downing Street by the Prime Minister, John Major, who presented him with a cheque for £100,500 for the Gurkha Welfare Trust.
In 2008 Gurung became closely involved in the campaign to allow Gurkhas to settle in Britain. The British government had refused entry to the 2,000 Gurkhas who had retired before July 1997, the date when their base was moved to the UK from Hong Kong.
Five claimants — including a Falklands veteran, Lance-Corporal Gyanendra Rai; a Gulf War veteran, Birendra Man; and a Gurkha widow — launched a legal challenge, supported by Lachhiman Gurung and a fellow winner of the VC, Honorary Lieutenant Tul Bahadur Pun, then aged 87. Both men had been told that they would not be allowed to settle here because they had failed to “demonstrate strong ties” to the UK.
In the High Court in September 2008, however, Mr Justice Blake said that the policy should be reviewed, referring to the “Military Covenant undertaken by every British soldier by which, in return for their pledge to make the ultimate sacrifice, they are promised value and respect”. He added: “Rewarding distinguished service by the grant of residence in the country for which the service was performed would be a vindication of this covenant.” As the judge rose after his ruling, Gurkhas and their supporters shouted their battle cry “Ayo gorkhali”.
In May 2009 the government announced that all Gurkha veterans who retired before 1997 with at least four years’ service would be allowed to settle in Britain. Even as this victory was secured, however, Gurung was appealing to the Queen and the Prime Minister for his 20-year-old granddaughter, Amrita, who had been facing deportation, to be allowed to stay in Britain to care for him.
“I have paid a great price for Britain,” Gurung said, “but I do not complain as I love this country as much as I love my family. However, in my last days I ask Her Majesty the Queen to help by allowing my granddaughter to be with me and at my side.” The Home Office relented, and granted her permission to stay.
In 2008 Gurung had settled at Hounslow, to which he was formally welcomed at a ceremony led by the mayor and the council; he was later made a Freeman of the Borough. He attended many functions of the Nepalese communities in Hounslow and elsewhere, and was honorary vice-president of the Chiswick branch of the Royal British Legion. He had recently moved into the Chiswick War Memorial Homes.
Lachhiman Gurung attended this year’s Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Centotaph, and was also present at last month’s VC and GC Association reunion in the presence of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
One of Gurung’s sons subsequently became an officer in the 8th Gurkha Rifles. His second wife, Manmaya, survives him with his five children.
Havildar Lachhiman Gurung, VC
Havildar Lachhiman Gurung, who died on December 12 aged 92, won the Victoria Cross while serving with the Gurkha Rifles in Burma in 1945; in recent years he had been a prominent figure in the campaign led by the actress Joanna Lumley to allow former Gurkhas to settle in Britain.At the end of April 1945, the 89th Indian Brigade of 7th Division was ordered to cross the Irrawaddy and destroy the enemy north of the Prome-Taungup road. By May 9 the Japanese, after a series of desperate attacks, had broken off contact and were withdrawing towards the Taungdaw Valley. “B” and “C” companies of the 4th/8th Gurkha Rifles were positioned to block their route at the village of Taungdaw, on the west bank of the river.
When the Japanese arrived, the two Gurkha companies were surrounded and their lines of communication cut. On the night of May 12, Rifleman Gurung was manning the forward post of his platoon almost 100 yards ahead of the main company.
At 1.20am, more than 200 Japanese attacked the company position. The brunt of the assault fell on Gurung’s section and, in particular, on his post, which dominated a jungle track leading up to his platoon’s position. Had the enemy been able to overrun it and occupy Gurung’s trench, they would have secured control over the whole of the field before them.
One grenade fell on the lip of Gurung’s trench. He quickly grabbed it and hurled it back at the enemy. Almost immediately another grenade came over. This one fell directly inside the trench. Again Gurung snatched it up and threw it back.
A third grenade landed just in front of the trench. Gurung attempted to throw it back, but it exploded in his hand, blowing off his fingers, shattering his right arm and severely wounding him in the face, body and right leg. His two comrades were also badly wounded and lay helpless in the bottom of the trench.
The enemy, screaming and yelling, now formed up shoulder to shoulder and attempted to rush the position by sheer weight of numbers. Gurung, regardless of his wounds, loaded and fired his rifle with his left hand and kept up a steady rate of fire.
The attacks came in wave after wave, but the Japanese were beaten back with heavy losses. For four hours Gurung remained alone at his post, calmly waiting for each new onslaught, firing into his attackers at point blank range, determined not to yield an inch of ground. His comrades could hear him shouting: “Come and fight a Gurkha!”
The following morning, of the 87 enemy dead found in the company’s immediate locality, 31 lay in front of Gurung’s section. The Japanese made repeated attempts to break through, but the 4th/8th held out until May 15, when they were relieved.
Gurung later said: “I had to fight because there was no other way. I felt I was going to die anyway, so I might as well die standing on my feet. All I knew was that I had to go on and hold them back. I am glad that helped the other soldiers in my platoon, but they would have all done the same thing.”
Gurung was invested with the Victoria Cross by Lord Louis Mountbatten at a parade at the Red Fort in Delhi on December 19 1945. The citation declared: “This Rifleman, by his magnificent example, so inspired his comrades to resist the enemy to the last that, although surrounded and cut off for three days and two nights, they held and smashed every attack. His outstanding gallantry and extreme devotion to duty, in the face of almost overwhelming odds, were the main factors in the defeat of the enemy.” Partiman Gurung, Lachhiman’s father, then aged about 74, was carried for 11 days from his village in Nepal to witness his son being decorated.
Lachhiman Gurung was born on December 30 1917 at Dakhani village in the Tanhu district of Nepal. He enlisted in December 1940 and after completing basic training was recruited into the 8th Gurkha Rifles. Of small build (he stood just 4ft 11in tall), he was under the minimum height and would not have been accepted in peacetime.
After the action in which he won the Victoria Cross, Gurung was evacuated to hospital, but lost his right hand and the use of his right eye. He continued to serve with the 8th Gurkha Rifles but transferred to the Indian Army after Independence in 1947. He retired in the rank of havildar (the equivalent of sergeant) in the same year.
Gurung married soon afterwards and had two sons and a daughter. Later, after the death of his wife, he had two sons from a second marriage.
He farmed a two-acre plot and owned several buffalo, oxen, goats and cows. In 1995 the VC and GC Association provided the Gurkha Welfare Trust with £2,000 donated by the Armourers and Brasiers’ Livery Company, and these funds were used to build a new house for Gurung and his family near the Gurkha Welfare Centre at Chitwan.
In August 1995 Gurung was received at 10 Downing Street by the Prime Minister, John Major, who presented him with a cheque for £100,500 for the Gurkha Welfare Trust.
In 2008 Gurung became closely involved in the campaign to allow Gurkhas to settle in Britain. The British government had refused entry to the 2,000 Gurkhas who had retired before July 1997, the date when their base was moved to the UK from Hong Kong.
Five claimants — including a Falklands veteran, Lance-Corporal Gyanendra Rai; a Gulf War veteran, Birendra Man; and a Gurkha widow — launched a legal challenge, supported by Lachhiman Gurung and a fellow winner of the VC, Honorary Lieutenant Tul Bahadur Pun, then aged 87. Both men had been told that they would not be allowed to settle here because they had failed to “demonstrate strong ties” to the UK.
In the High Court in September 2008, however, Mr Justice Blake said that the policy should be reviewed, referring to the “Military Covenant undertaken by every British soldier by which, in return for their pledge to make the ultimate sacrifice, they are promised value and respect”. He added: “Rewarding distinguished service by the grant of residence in the country for which the service was performed would be a vindication of this covenant.” As the judge rose after his ruling, Gurkhas and their supporters shouted their battle cry “Ayo gorkhali”.
In May 2009 the government announced that all Gurkha veterans who retired before 1997 with at least four years’ service would be allowed to settle in Britain. Even as this victory was secured, however, Gurung was appealing to the Queen and the Prime Minister for his 20-year-old granddaughter, Amrita, who had been facing deportation, to be allowed to stay in Britain to care for him.
“I have paid a great price for Britain,” Gurung said, “but I do not complain as I love this country as much as I love my family. However, in my last days I ask Her Majesty the Queen to help by allowing my granddaughter to be with me and at my side.” The Home Office relented, and granted her permission to stay.
In 2008 Gurung had settled at Hounslow, to which he was formally welcomed at a ceremony led by the mayor and the council; he was later made a Freeman of the Borough. He attended many functions of the Nepalese communities in Hounslow and elsewhere, and was honorary vice-president of the Chiswick branch of the Royal British Legion. He had recently moved into the Chiswick War Memorial Homes.
Lachhiman Gurung attended this year’s Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Centotaph, and was also present at last month’s VC and GC Association reunion in the presence of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
One of Gurung’s sons subsequently became an officer in the 8th Gurkha Rifles. His second wife, Manmaya, survives him with his five children.
Havildar Lachhiman Gurung, VC
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Prime Minister Congratulates Newly Elected British Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron
Photo courtesy The HINDU: click here
NEW MISSION: Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron speaks outside No.10 Downing Street, in London, on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has congratulated Mr. David Cameron, the newly elected Prime Minister of United Kingdom. In a letter to Mr. Cameron, the Prime Minster extended his warm wishes and hoped the two countries will further strengthen the bonds of friendship. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s letter:
“Dear Mr. Prime Minister,
Please accept my heartiest felicitations and congratulations on your assumption of the office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The elections in the United Kingdom and your stewardship of the Conservative Party reflect the best traditions of parliamentary democracy. I wish you the very best in your leadership of the United Kingdom in the years ahead.
I recall with great pleasure our meeting in New Delhi in September 2006. Over the years, our bilateral relations have diversified into a vibrant and multi-faceted strategic partnership encompassing almost all areas of human endeavour.
We are today well-placed to build upon this strong edifice not just for the welfare and benefit of our two peoples, but also to work together to address the pressing global challenges that we face today, and to harness the growing inter-dependence among nations for the good of humankind. I look forward to working with you to further advance and strengthen our bonds of friendship, to which India attaches the highest importance.
It gives me great pleasure to extend a most cordial invitation to you to visit India at your convenience.” *** AKT/SH/SKS
Prime Minister Congratulates Newly Elected British Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron
Read the motivating acceptance speech
British Prime Minister David Cameron's acceptance speech
NEW MISSION: Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron speaks outside No.10 Downing Street, in London, on Tuesday. The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has congratulated Mr. David Cameron, the newly elected Prime Minister of United Kingdom. In a letter to Mr. Cameron, the Prime Minster extended his warm wishes and hoped the two countries will further strengthen the bonds of friendship. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s letter:
“Dear Mr. Prime Minister,
Please accept my heartiest felicitations and congratulations on your assumption of the office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The elections in the United Kingdom and your stewardship of the Conservative Party reflect the best traditions of parliamentary democracy. I wish you the very best in your leadership of the United Kingdom in the years ahead.
I recall with great pleasure our meeting in New Delhi in September 2006. Over the years, our bilateral relations have diversified into a vibrant and multi-faceted strategic partnership encompassing almost all areas of human endeavour.
We are today well-placed to build upon this strong edifice not just for the welfare and benefit of our two peoples, but also to work together to address the pressing global challenges that we face today, and to harness the growing inter-dependence among nations for the good of humankind. I look forward to working with you to further advance and strengthen our bonds of friendship, to which India attaches the highest importance.
It gives me great pleasure to extend a most cordial invitation to you to visit India at your convenience.” *** AKT/SH/SKS
Prime Minister Congratulates Newly Elected British Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron
Read the motivating acceptance speech
British Prime Minister David Cameron's acceptance speech
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Armistice Day observed in Puducherry
PAYING HOAMGE: Consul-General of France in Puducherry Joelle Rayet and Secretary to Government T M Balakrishnan at the war memorial in Puducherry on Tuesday.PUDUCHERRY: The 90th anniversary of Armistice Day was observed on Tuesday. Consul General of France in Puducherry Joelle Rayet and Secretary to Government TM Balakrishnan placed wreaths at the War Memorial on Goubert Avenue on the day.
A number of persons including the officer bearers of association of retired French military and civil service persons placed wreaths at the war memorial.
Armistice Day observed
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