Rambahadur Limbu

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox military person Rambahadur Limbu, Template:Postnominals (Template:Langx; 8 July 1939 – 22 April 2023) was a Nepalese Gurkha and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Rambahadur Limbu belonged to the Begha Clan of Limbu people of Nepal. Limbu was born in Chyangthapu village, Tehrathum, in East Nepal, and later lived in Damak.

Military career

Victoria Cross

In November 1965, Limbu was 26 years old, and was a lance corporal in the 2nd Battalion, 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles, British Army during the Indonesian Confrontation. On 21 November in Sarawak, Borneo, Limbu was in an advance party of 16 Gurkhas when they encountered about 30 Indonesians holding a position on the top of a jungle-covered hill. Limbu went forward with two men, but when they were only ten yards from the enemy machine-gun position, the sentry opened fire on them, whereupon Limbu rushed forward and killed him with a grenade. The remaining enemy combatants then opened fire on the small party, wounding the two men with Limbu. Limbu then made three journeys into the open under heavy fire, two to drag his comrades to safety and one to retrieve their Bren gun, with which he charged down and killed many of the enemy.<ref name=LG1>Template:London Gazette</ref>

Citation

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The medal was presented by the Queen in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in 1966. Limbu's five-year-old son attended with his father.<ref name=GM>Template:Citation</ref>

His original Victoria Cross was stolen, along with all his other possessions, while he was asleep during a train journey in India to his native Nepal in 1967. It has never been found, and he was issued with a replacement.<ref>Sergeant Alfred Richards VC – 1st Bn, The Lancashire Fusiliers Template:Webarchive</ref>

Later career

Limbu reached the rank of captain,<ref>London Gazette Issue 48879 published on 1 February 1982. Page 3 of 4 Template:Dead link</ref> as a Queen's Gurkha Officer (QGO), and was appointed Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) in 1984 for his service as Queen's Gurkha Orderly Officer.<ref>London Gazette Issue 49685 published on 23 March 1984. Page 1 of 104 Template:Dead link</ref> He then retired from active service in 1985.Template:R

Death

Limbu died from heart and kidney failure in Lalitpur on 22 April 2023, aged 83.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the media

Limbu was interviewed for the 2006 television docudrama Victoria Cross Heroes which also included archive footage and dramatisations of his actions.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Medal entitlement

Captain Rambahadur Limbu was entitled to the following medals;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Ribbon	Description	Notes
	Victoria Cross (VC)	1965
	Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO)	Member – 1984
	General Service Medal (1918)	1 Clasp Malaya
	General Service Medal (1962)	2 Clasp Borneo Malay Peninsula
	Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal	1977
	Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal	2002
	Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal	2012
	Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal	2022
	Long Service and Good Conduct Medal	With Bar "REGULAR ARMY"
	Gurkha Reserve Unit Medal
	Pingat Jasa Malaysia	2005