• OBITUARY
Captain Ram Bahadur Limbu's career was exemplary
Kathmandu, April 22
Captain (Retired) Ram Bahadur Limbu, the only living British Gurkha recipient of The Victoria Cross (VC) - one of the highest and most prestigious awards of the British honours system, passed away today. He was 83.
According to British Gurkhas Nepal, Limbu was undergoing treatment in Kathmandu when he died. Limbu is also a recipient of The Royal Victorian Order - Member (MVO), the Order conferred for extraordinary, important or personal services to the British Sovereign.
In November 1965, at just 26 years of age, Lance Corporal Limbu acted with bravery and valour on the battlefield during the Borneo Confrontation. Serving in the 2nd Battalion of the 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles, Limbu rescued two of his men while under intense enemy fire. After securing their safety he returned to the attack to fight valiantly against enemy soldiers.
For his actions that day, Queen Elizabeth II awarded Limbu with the Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace in 1966. His award was announced shortly after his first wife, Tikamaya Bhega, died in Singapore while he was on operations in Borneo, leaving him with two young sons, Bhakta aged four, and Chandra aged six months. Bhakta was flown to England, at the request of the queen, for his father's investiture.
When Limbu was in England to receive his award, he was taken to the London Stock Exchange, where standing in the public gallery he was recognised.
Trading ceased and he was applauded for three minutes and given three cheers - a spontaneous and unique tribute. Winning the Victoria Cross thrust Limbu into the spotlight.
Later in his career, Limbu reached the rank of Captain and was appointed Member of the Victorian Order (MVO) in 1984 for his service as a Queen's Gurkha Orderly Officer (QGOO). He retired from the British Army as a Captain after 28 years' service. He then joined the Sultan of Brunei's Gurkhas Reserve Unit (GRU) in which he served, as a Company 2IC, for eight years. On leaving the GRU he retired to Damak not far from where the Eastern Gurkha recruiting depot at Dharan was located.
For the 20 years, he served after receiving the award, he walked with the greatest in the land, he was feted wherever he went and endured the constant curiosity of the public. It would have turned the head of a lesser man, but throughout it all, aided by an immense natural dignity and simplicity of demeanour, he maintained a steady path, treating all manner of people and all kinds of situations with an even-handed courtesy, humility and charm which earned him enormous respect. He was a marvellous ambassador for his race and nation, and for the 10th Gurkhas and the British Army.
His enlistment papers record that he was born on 8 July 1939 in the village of Chyangthapu in East Nepal, where his parents were hill farmers. He is remembered as a man of great integrity, an outstanding sense of duty and if on occasions he could be short-tempered in private, he never let the dignity that his award conferred upon him slip in public.
He was a reserved man by nature, a diligent soldier and a devoted family man. He is survived by his second wife Eunimaya and three children. Bhakta, his eldest son, served in 10GR and RGR and retired as a Captain, predeceased him. Chandra, served in the Queen's Gurkha Signals retiring as a Corporal and then worked in Maritime Security. Giwan remained at home in Nepal and Bhannu, a Manchester University graduate, lives in Melbourne, Australia where he works in IT.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 23, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
