b. 1979/1980 Bima, Nepal.
DATE OF CGC ACTION: 17/09/2010 near Babaji, Afghanistan.
Dipprasad Pun CGC
Dipprasad Pun was born in Nepal in either 1979 or 1980. He comes from military pedigree with the distinction that his grandfather, Tulbahadur Pun was awarded the Victoria Cross in World War II. Dipprasad moved to the UK with his parents as a child and settled in Ashford, Kent. He enlisted in the Royal Gurkha Rifles and had risen to the rank of Sergeant by the time of his actions on 17 September 2010 at his patrol base near to Babaji, Afghanistan.
Pun was on sentry duty on the evening of September 17, 2010, when he heard a clinking noise outside the checkpoint. Going to investigate, he found two insurgents trying to lay a bomb. Realizing he was about to be attacked, and his platoon were out on patrol, he informed his commander by radio and opened fire on the enemy. In the ensuing firefight, which saw him bombarded by rocket-propelled grenades and AK47s for more than 15 minutes, Pun moved around his position to fend off the attack from three sides using every type of weapon he could find.
Up on the roof, Pun found himself face to face with a Taliban fighter and fired his machine gun at him until he fell off. When another insurgent tried to climb up, Pun’s gun either jammed or ran out of ammunition so he picked up a sandbag to use as a weapon, but then the contents fell out. In desperation, he grabbed the metal tripod of his machine gun and threw it at the man, shouting “Marchu talai” — “I will kill you” in Nepali.
Pun told officers at the time that there were more than 30 attackers, although local villagers later told him there were more likely to be 12 or 15. He said he thought the assault would never end and “nearly collapsed” when it was over, admitting: “I was really scared. But as soon as I opened fire that was gone — before they kill me, I have to kill some.”
The only weapon he did not use was the traditional curved Kukri knife carried by the Nepalese soldiers, because he did not have it with him. His actions are cited as “the bravest seen in his battalion during two tours”.
He was invested with his Conspicuous Gallantry Cross on 1 June 2011 at Buckingham Palace. He still lives in Ashford, Kent with his wife.
CGC CITATION:
On the evening of the day in question [17 September 2010], Sergeant Pun was one of four men left in the southern compound because the platoon had pushed out a patrol to dominate the road to the east in readiness for the next day’s parliamentary elections. All were taking turns to man a single sangar position on the roof in the centre of the compound.
Sergeant Pun was on duty when he heard a clinking noise to the south of the checkpoint:
“I thought at first maybe it was a cow,” he said, “but my suspicions soon built up, and I saw Taliban digging to lay down an IED in front of our gate”.
Sergeant Pun had the presence of mind to gather up two radios, which would enable him to both speak to his commander and to call in artillery support, his personal weapon, and a general-purpose machine gun.
Realising that he was about to be attacked, he quickly informed his commander on one of the radios and launched a grenade at the enemy. Sergeant Pun single-handedly fought off an enemy attack on his lightly manned position. In the dark he tackled the enemy head-on as he moved around his position to fend off the attack from three sides, killing three assailants and causing the others to flee.
In doing so he saved the lives of his three comrades and prevented the position from being overrun. Sergeant Pun couldn’t know how many Taliban were attempting to overcome his position, but he sought them out from all angles despite the danger, consistently moving towards them to reach the best position of attack:
“I thought there might have been around 20 to 30, but later locals told me it was probably about 15. The firing went on continually for about 17 minutes”, said Sergeant Pun.
“At first I was a bit scared, and I thought definitely they are going to kill me. But as soon as I started firing, that feeling went away”.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: WITH RECIPIENT.
