In Burma on June 23rd, 1944, a Battalion of the 6th Gurkha Rifles was ordered to attack the Railway Bridge at Mogaung. Immediately the attack developed the enemy opened concentrated and sustained cross fire at close range from a position known as the Red House and from a strong bunker position two hundred yards to the left of it.

So intense was this cross fire that both the leading platoons of 'B' Company, one of which was Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun's, were pinned to the ground and the whole of his Section was wiped out with the exception of himself, the Section commander and one other man. The Section commander immediately led the remaining two men in a charge on the Red House but was at once badly wounded. Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun and his remaining companion continued the charge, but the latter too was immediately wounded.

Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun then seized the Bren Gun, and firing from the hip as he went, continued the charge on this heavily bunkered position alone, in the face of the most shattering concentration of automatic fire, directed straight at him. With the dawn coming up behind him, he presented a perfect target to the Japanese. He had to move for thirty yards over open ground, ankle deep in mud, through shell holes and over fallen trees.

Despite these overwhelming odds, he reached the Red House and closed with the Japanese occupants. He killed three and put five more to flight and captured two light machine guns and much ammunition. He then gave accurate supporting fire from the bunker to the remainder of his platoon which enabled them to reach their objective.

In their 200 years of service to the British Crown, 45,000 have died and 150,000 seriously wounded yet they do not have the automatic right to live in Britain or become British. This contrasts with the US armed services which do provide a route to citizenship through service.

A group of those who recognize the debt Britain owes to the Ghurkas has opened an on-line petition at the 10 Downing Street site and have their own web site to highlight the urgent need for Mr Pun to be allowed to come for treatment. Much of the information in this diary is taken from the latter.

The main cemetery for the dead in the Burma campaign is at  Kohima. The inscription on the memorial there reads:

"When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,
For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today

His dead compatriots' tomorrow is Mr Pun's today. Britain will stay in disgrace until the debt of honor we owe him is paid and he is allowed to come for treatment. If you are a British citizen or resident in the UK, I urge you to sign the petition. You can also write and email in support of Mr Pun's immigration appeal via www.vchero.co.uk