Tulbahadur Pun VC

Tulbahadur Pun, one of only 13 Gurkha soldiers to have received the Victoria Cross, was honoured during a ceremony at Paddington station on 23 June 2021.

Pun’s son Arjun and daughter Megh Kumari were joined by guests including actress Joanna Lumley OBE, whose father Major James Rutherford Lumley was Pun’s Commanding Officer during the Second World War.

Tulbahadur Pun

Pun was aged just 21 and serving as a Rifleman in the 3rd Battalion of the 6th Gurkha Rifles when his heroic deed at Mogaung, Burma, led to him receiving the highest honour for gallantry awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Having seen several members of his platoon killed during an attack on a railway bridge on June 23, 1944, Pun continued the charge alone, killing three enemy soldiers and forcing five more to flee.

He then gave accurate supporting fire, enabling the rest of his platoon to reach the bridge. Later rising to the rank of Honorary Lieutenant, Pun was awarded 10 other medals including the Burma Star. He passed away in 2011.

Joanna Lumley, who is Vice President of The Gurkha Welfare Trust, was joined at the ceremony by members of the Gurkha Brigade Association and 6th Gurkha Rifles Regimental Association.

Absolutely Fabulous star Lumley said:

“This is an extraordinarily graceful gesture from Great Western Railway. I think it’s quite wonderful because Tulbahadur Pun’s name has gone down in history already, but this train means he will be remembered every day. I wish he was here to see it – he was such a modest man but I think this would have amused him and made him so proud.”