3/2 Gurkhas in the Arakan.

Discussion in 'British Indian Army' started by bamboo43, Jan 21, 2011.

  1. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

    P/L/Nk. Bisram Thapa
    10063
    3rd Bn, 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)

    Awarded with the Indian Distinguished Service Medal

    Kantaunggyi, Arakan

    No.10063 L/Nk. Bisram was sec comdr of the right sec of No.4 Pl, B Coy which attacked "Snowden East" 912164 from the West on 5 Mar 45.

    L/Nk. Bisram was given as his sec objectives two enemy posns on the West side of "Snowden East".

    The last 50 yds of the route that L/Nk. Bisram had to take to reach his objective was devoid of any sort of cover as the hill had been shelled previously by artillery.

    Accordingly L/Nk. Bisram formed his sec up under cover and then gave order to charge. He himself led the assault yelling and shouting encouragement to his men. Going over the open ground the sec suffered very heavy casualties as the enemy from above threw grenades and mines down on them, and 2 MMGs from a feature 50 yds to the North of their objective, were sweeping the ground with fire. By the time the summit was reached L/Nk. Bisram had only four men left. Ahead of his men, he attacked the first enemy trench killing the 2 Jap in it with his Tommy gun. As he turned towards his last objective, he was fired upon by a Jap in a trench nearly. L/Nk. Bisram rushed at him. Finding that his Tommy gun magazine was empty he grasped his weapon by the barrel and beat the Jap to death breaking the butt of his Tommy gun in doing so. His Tommy gun being useless and still having one more objective to capture, he drew his Khukri and charged the last posn in which there were 3 enemy; 2 fled before his attack and the third who stayed to fight he killed with his Khukri.

    L/Nk. Bisram showed the greatest of bravery in the capture of these 3 posns. His utter disregard for his own personal safety undoubtedly inspired all ranks in his Coy.
     
  2. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

    Rifleman Chhabilal Gharti
    10060
    3rd Bn, 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)

    Awarded with the Military Medal

    Kantaunggyi, Arakan

    Rfn. Chhabilal was in one of the 2 forward secs of No.5 Pl, B Coy which attacked "Snowden East" (MR.912164) from the S.W. on 5 Mar 45.

    Rfn. Chhabilal’s sec was advancing in the face of very heavy LMG, rifle, grenade and mine fire from the posns above and the fire from 2 LMGs and snipers from a hill 75 yds south of "Snowden East".

    When they got to within about 20 yds of their sec objective, the sec comdr was killed and the sec 2.i/c and Bren No.1 were wounded. Without hesitation Rfn. Chhabilal seized the Bren Gun and shouting to his sec to follow him he charged towards his objective. The sec then came under even heavier fire than before and was held up. Rfn. Chhabilal then dashed forward alone and firing his Bren gun from the hip he cleared the enemy posn that had been holding them up. His courageous attack caused the 5 Japs who were in the posn, to flee and as they run away Rfn. Chhabilal killed 2 of them. Rfn. Chhabilal then called his sec up and consolidated the posn.

    Rfn. Chhabilal showed great initiative and bravery under fire and his single handed capture of the enemy posn assisted his pl very greatly in capturing their objective.
     
  3. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

    W/S Jemadar Chandrabir Thapa
    6392
    3rd Bn, 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)

    Recommended for the Military Cross
    Awarded with for the Indian Order of Merit

    Kantaunggyi, Arakan

    Jem. Chandrabir Thapa was pl Comd of No.5 Pl, B Coy which attacked "Snowden East" 912164 from the S.W. on 5 Mar 45.

    Jem. Chandrabir had orders to attack with his pl on the right flank and capture East half of "Snowden East". Another pl was to secure West half.

    After leaving the Start Point Jem. Chandrabir moved with 2 secs up and 1 in reserve. He himself went with the forward 2 secs for the sake of control.

    During the initial advance his pl was continually harassed by 2 MMGs and number of snipers from a hill to the South of his objective. Twenty yards from the top of the feature they met serious opposition. Here Jem. Chandrabir was halted by severe LMG, grenade and mine fire from the posns above him. He at once laid one of his forward secs down in posn and under their covering fire, himself led the other sec into the attack yelling and shouting encouragement to his men.

    In this charge Jem. Chandrabir was wounded in the face and back by a grenade and also in the stomach by an LMG burst. Despite his painful wounds he continued to lead his men on and capture his objective. Here he personally cleared two Japs posns with his Tommy gun and grenades, killing 4 of the enemy.

    Jem. Chandrabir had now captured his half of the objective; the other pl which had advancing from the West had also attained their half. However, as their pl Comdr had been wounded during their attack, Jem. Chandrabir took command of what remained of both pls. No sooner had he done than the enemy started to counter attack. Jem. Chandrabir then organised his command so that half the men dug posns and the other half fought off the counter attacks, for he realised that if he did not dug in, a determined enemy counter attack might push him off his posn. In all the enemy counter attacked five times – twice from the North, twice from the East and once from the S.E., all of which Jem. Chandrabir beat off inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy.

    During the last three counter attacks Jem. Chandrabir’s men run out of grenades, so he ordered them to use stones, with which, with S.A.A. fire, they beat off the enemy.

    Only after the whole objective had been consolidated did Jem. Chandrabir report to his Coy Comdr that he was wounded.

    Jem. Chandrabir’s control of his pl in the most difficult terrain was exemplary, and without his outstanding bravery and leadership, his Coy’s objective might not have been taken that day.
     
  4. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

    Rifleman Asbahadur Thapa
    10247
    3rd Bn, 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)

    Awarded with the Military Medal

    Kantaunggyi, Arakan

    Rfn. Asbahadur Thapa was the sec. 2.i/c of the sec of No.6 Pl, B Coy that was sent to reinforce No.4 Pl who were only 10 men strong after capturing their objective, "Snowden East" 912164 on 5th Mar 45.

    The route that this sec had to take was the same as had been taken by No.4 Pl in their advance towards the objective. This route was swept by heavy cross fire from 2 enemy MMGs situated 50 yards North of "Snowden East".

    Rfn. Asbahadur's sec comdr was killed and over half the sec made casualties by this fire. Rfn. Asbahadur took the sec comdr's Tommy gun and led his sec on through this heavy fire.

    When they were about 40 yds from the captured objective the MMG fire ceased and 12 Japs with fixed bayonets started to attack No.4 Pl who were above.

    Seeing this enemy move, Rfn. Asbahadur ordered his sec to attack. He himself led the assault and killed 3 Japs with a long burst from his Tommy gun. The enemy took up posns on the hillside and returned sec's fire. The Bren No.1 was wounded and fell to the ground. Rfn. Asbahadur, his Tommy gun being empty, seized the fallen man's gun and charged the remaining enemy who broke and fled before his attack. As they ran away he killed 2 more with his Bren gun.

    Rfn. Asbahadur's bravery and courage in defeating this enemy attack was outstanding and prevented the already weak No.4 Pl from suffering further casualties.
     
  5. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Thanks again for your great effort with this thread sol.:)

    I have placed all this information into a Word document on the battalion and have added the majority of the men to my 1943 Master list. The main reason for doing this is that the service numbers match up very well to those of the men of operation Longcloth.

    Cheers.

    Steve.
     
  6. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

    Hope it helps. I have some five more citation and I'll try to post them all tomorrow.
     
  7. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

    W.S. Havildar Subakhar Thapa
    6844
    3rd Bn, 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)

    Awarded with the Military Medal

    Ru-Ywa, Arakan

    No.6844 Hav. Subakhar Thapa was the Platoon Commander of No.6 Pl, B Coy which carried out the successful reconnaissance, attack and capture of the "Gurung" feature 931077 on 23rd Feb 45.

    For the reconnaissance Hav. Subakhar had orders to find the strength and dispositions of the enemy positions on "Gurung". He was told to draw the enemy's fire and stay and kill the enemy until he got the order to withdraw. Hav. Subakhar carried out his orders to the latter.

    When his leading section came under fire from the enemy positions Hav. Subakhar immediately laid out the rest of his platoon in order to cover them. The enemy immediately counter attacked four times in waves of twenty of thirty men with fixed bayonets. Hav. Subakhar held his ground and beat off all the enemy attacks inflicting heavy casualties. He then sent a runner back to Coy H.Q. giving full details of the situation and information about enemy strength and dispositions and it was not until he was given the order to do so that he withdraw his platoon.

    For the attack on "Gurung", Hav. Subakhar's platoon again took part. He led his platoon skillfully up the same route that he had taken for his reconnaissance and put in a two section attack on the positions he had pin-pointed earlier. This attack was held up by heavy MMG fire so he sent his reserve section round the left flank to get at the enemy's rear. This succeeded and the enemy was forced to withdraw from the positions facing the rest of the platoon. These positions were immediately occupied and from them Hav. Subakhar brought down such effective 2" Mtr and Rifle Grenade fire on the remaining enemy positions that when another platoon went in on the right flank the enemy was forced to withdraw entirely.

    The manner in which Hav. Subakhar commanded his platoon through both these successful actions was beyond all praise. His courage and cool thinking under fire undoubtedly inspired all ranks under his command.

    Additional to previous submission.

    During the attack on "Snowden East" (MR. 912164) on the 5 Mar 45 Hav. Subakhar was commanding the reserve pl of B Coy which was sent to consolidate and take over the captured objective from the two very weakened leading pls.

    On their way up towards the objective Hav. Subakhar's pl came under very heavy and accurate cross fire from the two MMGs on the left flank. Hav. Subakhar dashed forward ahead of his pl yelling to his men to follow him. When within about 20 yds of the objective Hav. Subakhar was heavily counter attacked by 15 Japs who made a bayonet charge. Leading his men himself he beat off the enemy attack inflicting heavy casualties, Hav. Subakhar personally killing 4 Japs.

    While the relieved pls were withdrawing from the objective, the enemy counter attacked strongly, covered by two MMGs whose fire swept the top of the feature. Hav. Subakhar ignored this fire and moved freely encouraging his men and himself inflicting casualties on the enemy. The attack was repulsed with heavy loss to the enemy.

    Hav. Subakhar had proved himself to be a pl comd well above the average, and the example that he set his men was magnificent.
     
  8. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

    Rifleman Sherbahadur Gurung
    25928
    3rd Bn, 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)

    Awarded with the Military Medal

    Kantaunggyi, Arakan

    Rfn. Sherbahadur was a rifleman of the leading sec of No.4 Pl, B Coy which attacked "Snowden East" (MT.912164) from the West on 5 Mar 45.

    In the very first stages of the attack Rfn. Sherbahadur's sec was subjected to vary heavy LMG, rifle, grenade and mine fire from the top of the objective and severe cross fire from 2 MMGs firing from a bunker on the left flank. His complete sec were all killed or wounded and Rfn. Sherbahadur himself wounded in both hands by a grenade, was the only one left.

    Without hesitation Rfn. Sherbahadur seized his sec's Bren Gun and alone under this very heavy fire he charged his sec's objective which were two enemy posns on the top of the feature. He rushed the first posn and killed 2 Japs in it. Without stopping he charged the next posn which contained 4 enemy, 2 of which fled and other 2 Rfn. Sherbahadur killed with his Bren Gun.

    The bravery and initiative shown by Rfn. Sherbahadur was outstanding. Although his whole sec had become casualties and he himself wounded he alone captured his sec's objective, which in no small way affected the result of his Coy's attack.
     
  9. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

    W.S. Naik L/Havildar Sherbahadur Gurung
    2074
    3rd Bn, 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)

    Recommended for the Indian Distinguished Service Medal
    Awarded with the Military Medal

    During the attack on "Gurung" feature on 23.2.45. L/Hav Sherbahadur was the sec comdr of the centre sec of No.5 Pl, B Coy which attacked the objective from the right flank.

    The pl was held up by heavy concentrated fire, from 4 M.M.Gs and 1 L.M.G. when it was about 20 yds away from the objective.

    L/Hav Sherbahadur's sec was halted by almost point blank fire from one of the centre M.M.Gs firing from the very top of the feature. Without hesitation L/Hav Sherbahadur alone charged the enemy gun firing his C.M.T. from the hip to keep the heads of the gun crew down. Within 10 yds of the enemy position he was forced to take cover on account of heavy fire coming from a rifle post to the left of the M.M.G.

    The enemy seeing that their gun was being seriously threatened withdrew it under the cover of heavy grenade fire.

    L/Hav Sherbahadur seeing the Japs withdrawing rushed into the vacated gun pit and hastened the retreat of the gun crew with his C.M.T., badly wounded one of them.

    During the attack on "Snowden East" on 5.3.45. L/Hav Sherbahadur's pl attacked from the S.W. his sec being in the centre. The sec was held up by very heavy grenade and mine fire from 3 enemy fox-holes, that were the sec's objective, and sustained 50 per cent casualties.

    Despite the grenade fire L/Hav Sherbahadur stood up and threw a grenade at one of the posts; whilst doing this he was wounded in the mouth and forehead by a grenade. Despite his painful wounds he continued to stand up and threw a smoke grenade into the nearest enemy fox-hole badly burning the Jap inside it. He them charged forward alone and killed the Jap with his C.M.T. He was then fired up-on by an enemy rifleman from a fox-hole to the right, he killed the Jap with a grenade. Again for the second time he charged another enemy fox-hole and killed the Jap in it with his C.M.T.

    Alone L/Hav Sherbahadur had captured his sec's objective which influenced in no small way the success of his Coy's attack.
     
  10. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

    Rifleman Karnabahadur Gurung
    67979
    3rd Bn, 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)

    Awarded with the Military Medal

    During the attack on "Gurung" feature on 23.2.45. Rfn. Karnabahadur was Bren No.1 of the right sec of No.5 Pl, B Coy which attacked the objective from the right flank.

    The pl was held up by heavy concentrated fire from 4 M.M.Gs and 1 L.M.G. when they were about 20 yds away from the objective. Rfn. Karnabahadur's sec came under heavy fire from the right MMG. While his sec comdr went to deal with this M.M.g. Rfn. Karnabahadur took his Bren gun out to a flank and although he made himself a target for very heavy enemy rifle and automatic fire continued to fire his gun and give his sec comdr covering fire. After the M.M.G. post had been taken he switched his fire on to another M.M.G. crew who were holding up the advance of the left sec. He killed 2 of the crew and the others finding themselves subjected to heavy fire withdrew taking their gun with them. As they were withdrawing Rfn. Karnabahadur exposing himself to heavy fire stood up and threw 2 grenades at the withdrawing enemy severely wounding 2 of them.

    It was very largely due to Rfn. Karnabahadur's bravery and accurate fire that his pl did not suffer a single casualties in the attack despite the fact that the enemy had superiority in automatic fire power.

    During the attack on "Snowden East" on 5.3.45. Rfn. Karnabahadur's pl attacked from the S.W. his sec being on the right flank. When they were about 20 yds away from the top of the feature the left hand sec which was a little ahead came under heavy L.M.G. fire from position above them and were brought to ground and were suffering heavy casualties. Rifleman Karnabahadur seeing this stood in the open, and although the enemy above showered grenades down upon him, firing his Bren from the hip killed one of the L.M.G. crew and wounded the other who crawled out of his trench and withdrew dragging him L.M.G. with him, thus allowing the left hand sec to advance once more.

    Rfn. Karnabahadur's own sec was now starting to suffer casualties from above and were held up by a position ahead. Rfn. Karnabahadur crawled forward alone and cleared the trench with a grenade killing the occupant.

    When the sec reached the top of the feature they were heavily counter attacked. Rfn. Karnabahadur jumped into a vacated enemy trench and with judicial use of his Bren gun and grenades beat off the attack, himself killing 2 of the enemy. Rfn. Karnabahadur went forward again closely following Rfn. Bhanbhagta Gurung V.C. to attack an L.M.G. bunker on the North end of the feature. When Rfn. Bhanbhagta had captured the bunker, Rfn. Karnabahadur put his gun inside and when the enemy counter attacked again he was largely responsible for beating off the attack and he inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy killing several more.

    The way in which Rfn. Karnabahadur carried out his job as a Bren gunner contributed greatly to the success of both attacks.
     
  11. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

    WS/Naik Limbahadur Thapa
    2129
    3rd Bn, 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)

    Awarded with the Indian Distinguished Service Medal

    During the attack on "Gurung" feature on 23.2.45. Nk. Limbahadur was the sec comdr of the right sec of No.5 Pl, B Coy which attacked the objective from the right flank.

    The pl was held up by heavy concentrated fire, from 4 M.M.Gs and 1 L.M.G. when they were about 20 yds away from the objective. Nk. Limbahadur’s sec came under heavy fire from the right MMG. He therefor placed his Bren gun in position to give him covering fire and then crawled forward alone under heavy fire to deal with enemy M.M.G. He got to within 8 yds of the M.M.G. position and from there threw a grenade into the M.M.G. post killing one of the four occupants.

    The Japs seeing that their gun was being threatened withdrew in under the cover of heavy hand and firle grenade fire. Nk. Limbahadur then rushed forward and jumped into the vacated post and as the enemy were withdrawing he fired a burst with his C.M.T., badly wounding one of the remaining gun crew. Nk. Limbahadur’s single handed clearing of this M.M.G. position helped greatly in the capture of his pl’s objectives.

    During the attack on "Snowden East" on 5.3.45. Nk. Limbahadur’s pl attacked from the S.W. his sec again being on the right flank. The sec was held up about 25 yds away from the objective by heavy L.M.G. fire from the top of the feature and sniper fire from the right flank. Nk. Limbahadur seeing his men go to ground at once rallied them and led them on once more. They were again stopped about 15 yds away from the objective, this time by a barrier of fallen trees and brushwood which had been laid as a fence by the enemy and which was burning fiercely having been set on fire by our shelling previous to the attack.

    While the sec was trying to break through this burning barrier 7 of the enemy with fixed bayonets counter attacked them from the right flank. Nk. Limbahadur at once hurled two of his grenades at the charging enemy and then firing his C.M.T. from the hip charged them himself killing 2 and putting the rest to flight. Then returning to his sec he led them on through the burning barrier and after fierce hand fighting captured the objective given to him by his pl comdr.

    During both attacks Nk. Limbahadur proved himself to be a very gallant leader and without his individual acts of bravery his sec might have sustained very heavy casualties.
     
  12. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

    Well these are all I found. This is not complete list, one or two are missing on the microfilms. If I find any other later I will post it.

    Map of Ru-Ywa and Tamandu area.
     

    Attached Files:

  13. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Sol,

    Many thanks for all your effort within this thread, you have given me a massive amount of information on these brave soldiers.

    Steve.
     
  14. Binro

    Binro Junior Member

    Sol,

    Many thanks for all your effort within this thread, you have given me a massive amount of information on these brave soldiers.

    Steve.

    I came across this site whilst researching the background of A/Maj J.E. Stephenson of 3/2 Gurkha Rifles who was KIA on 8th September 1944. His daughter, a relation of mine, would like to know more of his history.

    We know he enlisted in 1939, in April 1942 was commissioned and at the time of his death was A/Major. Probably the best source of further information would be the Regimental Diary, pages of which have been posted in this thread. Has anybody got a clue as to where this might be located? Also, any suggestions of further sources as I'm very much a beginner in this type of research.

    Many thanks.:)
     
  15. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Hi Binro,

    Welcome to the forum.
    The information is held at the National Archives, Kew, London. The 3/2 Gurkha Rifles have a war diary there for late 1943 through 1944. Reference number WO172/5015. I have yet to find the diary for early 1943.

    Also the Gurkha Museum at Winchester may well have other details on this unit and possibly information about the officers from within it. I have been meaning to pay a visit to Winchester myself for over 4 years, but have not managed to get around to it yet!

    I can tell you that Lieutenant Stephenson (as he was in 1943) was also a column officer on the original Chindit operation called operation 'Longcloth'.

    He was attached to column 2 which found itself in grave difficulties in March that year when it was attacked by a strong Japanese force near the rail station of Kyaikthin.

    Here is a citation he signed off for a Gurkha Rifleman's award of the IDSM:


    Havildar Ran Sing Gurung IDSM


    Transcript of Indian Distinguished Service Medal Citation

    Brigade
    77 Ind. Inf. Bde.

    Corps
    4th Corps

    Unit
    3/2nd Gurkha Rifles

    Date of
    Recommendation

    Regtl. No.
    6787

    Rank and Name
    Havildar RAN SING GURUNG

    Action for which recommended :-

    Operations in Burma - March - April, 1943.

    On 3rd March, 1943, the column to which this N.C.O. belonged was ambushed near KYAIKTHIN. He was one was a small party which, with a British Officer, joined up with a platoon of Burma Riflemen and set out on a prolonged march across the IRRAWADDY and through the KACHIN Hills. Throughout the period he proved himself an admirable N.C.O. of great courage and resource, and was of the utmost assistance to his commander.


    Recommended By
    Lt. J.E.Stephenson
    3/2nd Gurkha Rifles

    Honour or Reward
    IDSM

    Signed
    Brig. O. Wingate
    Comdr. 77 Ind.Inf. Bde.

    I would be interested in anything you have about Joseph as I am collating the entire history of the Chindit operation for that year (1943). If I can help further then just say.

    Steve
     
  16. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

    I came across this site whilst researching the background of A/Maj J.E. Stephenson of 3/2 Gurkha Rifles who was KIA on 8th September 1944. His daughter, a relation of mine, would like to know more of his history.

    We know he enlisted in 1939, in April 1942 was commissioned and at the time of his death was A/Major. Probably the best source of further information would be the Regimental Diary, pages of which have been posted in this thread. Has anybody got a clue as to where this might be located? Also, any suggestions of further sources as I'm very much a beginner in this type of research.

    Many thanks.:)

    Welcome to the forum. Yes, you can try with war diaries but also I suggest you if you can to visit IWM. There you can find sound record of interview with Dominic Fitzgerald Neill who served with 3/2nd Gurkhas. On one of reels he mentioned Major Stephenson (catalog number 14148)

    REEL 4 Continues: account of attack on Point Tiger, 9/1944 including discovery of Major Stephenson's body and failure to retrieve his ring for his relatives, belief that Major Stephenson should have been awarded VC, question of Major Stephenson's motivation and regimental honour; question of errors in regimental history's account of attack on Points Tiger and 1433, question of rules regarding award of posthumous VCs in unsuccessful actions and question of colour of Gurkha corpses on Point Tiger,
     
  17. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Excellent spot sol, you are a Google genius, there can be no doubt.:)

    Steve
     
  18. Binro

    Binro Junior Member

    Excellent spot sol, you are a Google genius, there can be no doubt.:)

    Steve

    You both have astonished me by the speed and detail of your responses and I can't thank you enough! I'll trot round to the IWM in the morning and also follow up the other suggestions.
     
  19. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Binro,

    No problem at all, glad to help out. As I said I am building a website about these men, so if there is anything you can tell me about Joseph and his background that would be fantastic.

    Steve
     
  20. Binro

    Binro Junior Member

    I spent today listening to Neill's account of the actions on 8 - 12 September 1944 at the IWM. They are well worth the effort and a fascinating insight into what was, initialy, a failed action. The second attack on the 12th met with almost no resistance as the Japanese had pulled out. The detail begins mid way through Vol 3 and continues throughout Vol 4. The only catch is that there is limited volume control on the IWMs system and the recordings (made in 1994) were origionaly analogue and have been heavily compressed when diggitised. However, copies are available and a bit of 'tweaking' in software like Sound Forge should improve things. I'm going to work my way through the lot now I know that my particular interest, Maj. J.E.Stephenson was in fact known to his comrades as 'Steve Stephenson'! I'll purchase volumes where there is material of relevance once I've identified them.

    'Joseph' was in fact known to his family by his second name 'Eric' and prior to WW2 was a Professional Footballer twice capped for England. He joined up in 1939 and became a PT instructor. By April 1942 he was a S.Sgt and attended a short course at Sandhurst receiving a Commission. He was then posted to Asia and the Gurkhas.

    I was slightly nervous when I sat down to listen to the recordings as the synopsis made strange references to regimental honour, colour of corpses etc, however it turned out to be a very moving and enlightening experience as the speaker was, even after the passage of 50 years, distressed at the death of his friend. Really, recordings 3 and 4 need to be listened too in their entirety to get the full picture but I’ll attempt to summarise as best I can.
    To set the scene I quote from the citation which won a MM for Naik Parbir
    Naik Parbir was commanding a section of C Coy which scaled the cliffs and reached the crest of the Mayu Range North of Pt.1433. At 0430 hrs on 8 Sep. At 0500 hrs he led his section into the Assault under heavy fire with the greatest dash. He drove enemy from forward positions and finally seized a small hill 80 yards North of Pt.1433. He established his section on this hill and returned the enemy's fire with such effect that no counter attack was launched. He was later joined by portions of the two other sections of his platoon, which had now lost its Commander and 2nd i/c. He assumed command of the platoon, and organised it for all round defence. Although under constant fire from various enemy bunkers close at hand, he encourage his tired men and inspired them with his determination to hold his precarious position at all costs. This he did for ten hours until relieved by a Platoon of D Coy. This position, from which the enemy made determined efforts to dislodge our troops, was held throughout and without doubt made the enemy realise that his remaining positions on the feature were untenable and finally decide to withdraw.


    This junior N.C.O. influenced the battle in away scarcely to be expected of one so young and displayed outstanding gallantry and powers of leadership under the most adverse conditions.
    It is presumed that Steve, realising that his Company could not advance further and being unable to communicate by radio, left with one platoon and set out to link up with B Coy who were attacking Point Tiger. Later in the day reports filtered back that he’d been killed.
    The attacks on 1433 and Tiger being largely unsuccessful, the forces were withdrawn. They attacked again 4 days later, this time in greater strength, only to find that the majority of the Japanese forces had been withdrawn. In fact, Point Tiger had no defenders at all. At this point Neill set out to find his friend and discovered a trail of bodies up the hillside and “two arms lengths away from the gun slit of a Japanese Bunker”, Steve’s body. He had taken a MG burst to the stomach. He recognised Steve instantly from the tell-tale yellow pencil sticking out of his left breast pocket.
    The body by this time was badly bloated and when he attempted to remove Steve’s ring to send to his widow it ‘disappeared in a mess of flesh and he could not continue’.
    One badly wounded Gurkha survivor was found who had been hiding for 4 days, he was sent off to hospital without de-briefing.
    Neill goes on to say “from his knowledge of Steve & the way the Japanese fought, Steve’s actions that day were the stuff of which VCs were made” However, he points out that the only witnesses as to how Steve managed to get so close to the bunker are also dead.
    The dead from B & C Coys were buried on Point Tiger, a copper plate was made up by the Engineers back at base and fixed to Steve’s marker, written by the Battalion Commander, it read:

    Maj J.E. Stephenson 2GR
    KIA 8/9/44
    Our Steve died as he would have wished, leading Gurkhas he loved and served so well. Forever England.

    Neill goes on to say “Why did he do what he did on Point Tiger, attack a bunker single-handed? He did it because he knew who he was and what he was . . . . . he WAS 2 Gurkha!”
     
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