Rifleman SHER BAHADUR THAPA

The citation in the London Gazette of 28th December, 1944, gives the following details : In Italy on the 18th-19th September, 1944, a battalion of the 9th Gurkha Rifles was fighting its way forward into the State of San Marino against bitter German opposition. Sher Bahadur Thapa was a Bren gunner in a company which came under heavy fire. He and his section commander charged the enemy post and put its occupants to flight. Almost immediately another party of Germans attacked the two men and the section commander was wounded, but Sher Bahadur Thapa rushed at the attackers and succeeded in bringing his Bren gun into action from an exposed position against the main body of Germans who were counter-attacking. By his accurate and intense fire this isolated Gurkha Bren gunner silenced several enemy machine-guns and checked German attempts to advance. When the Gurkha forward companies were ordered to withdraw, Sher Bahadur Thapa covered their withdrawal, remaining alone at his post until his ammunition ran out. He then rescued two wounded men who were lying between him and the advancing Germans. As he was returning the second time he fell under heavy fire at point-blank range. His great bravery saved the lives of many of his companions and his outstanding devotion to duty contributed largely to the severe reverse which the Germans eventually suffered.