The last remaining Gurkha recipient of the British Victoria Cross died in Nepal on Saturday at the age of 83, a statement from groups representing the elite brigade said on Saturday.
Rambahadur Limbu was a member of the Brigade of Gurkhas, a unit of Nepalese recruited into the British army who earned a reputation for fierce fighting, loyalty and bravery since it first served as part of the Indian army in British-ruled India in 1815.
“He has been a figurehead and exemplar of Gurkha bravery for generations of Gurkha recruits and soldiers,” the Gurkha Brigade Association said in a statement. “His loss will be felt profoundly by all those he has inspired.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
Queen Elizabeth II awarded Limbu the Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace in 1966 for gallantry during an attack on Indonesian troops the year before, during which he rescued two fellow soldiers.
The rescue occurred during the three-year Konfrontasi conflict sparked by Indonesia’s opposition to the formation of its now-neighbor Malaysia.
“I didn’t think I was going to be shot,” Rambahadur had told The Mirror in an interview in 2014. “All I cared about was rescuing my friends.”
Limbu, by then a captain, served in the Sultan of Brunei’s Army after leaving the British Army in 1985. He lived in the eastern Nepalese city of Damak after retiring in 1992.
British Ambassador to Nepal Nicola Pollitt traveled to Damak in September last year so that Limbu could sign the condolence book for Queen Elizabeth II after her death that month.
At the queen’s funeral in September, 17 of the then 23 living recipients of the Victoria Cross and the George Cross for civilian gallantry were in attendance, including one from New Zealand and four from Australia.
“He signed the book, recalling with pride and sadness his long service for Her Majesty,” Pollitt wrote on Twitter at the time.
Limbu is survived by his wife, Eunimaya, and three children.
Additional reporting by The Guardian
As the sun sets on another scorching Yangon day, the hot and bothered descend on the Myanmar city’s parks, the coolest place to spend an evening during yet another power blackout. A wave of exceptionally hot weather has blasted Southeast Asia this week, sending the mercury to 45°C and prompting thousands of schools to suspend in-person classes. Even before the chaos and conflict unleashed by the military’s 2021 coup, Myanmar’s creaky and outdated electricity grid struggled to keep fans whirling and air conditioners humming during the hot season. Now, infrastructure attacks and dwindling offshore gas reserves mean those who cannot afford expensive diesel
Does Argentine President Javier Milei communicate with a ghost dog whose death he refuses to accept? Forced to respond to questions about his mental health, the president’s office has lashed out at “disrespectful” speculation. Twice this week, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni was asked about Milei’s English Mastiff, Conan, said to have died seven years ago. Milei, 53, had Conan cloned, and today is believed to own four copies he refers to as “four-legged children.” Or is it five? In an interview with CNN this month, Milei referred to his five dogs, whose faces and names he had engraved on the presidential baton. Conan,
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese