Allegiance British IndiaIndia Role Armed force officer Rank Honorary Captain | Battles/wars World War II Name Agansing Rai | |
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Born 24 April 1920Amsara, Okhaldhunga district, Nepal ( 1920-04-24 ) Unit 5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) Similar People Gaje Ghale, Netrabahadur Thapa, Birendra of Nepal, Princess Shruti of Nepal | ||
Agansing Rai VC (24 April 1920 – 27 May 2000) was a Nepalese Gurkha recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
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Background
He was born in the village of Amsara, in the Okhaldhunga district of Nepal
Victoria Cross
Agansing Rai was a 24-year-old Naik in the 2nd Battalion, 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles, in the Indian Army during World War II, when he led his section in an attack on one of two posts which had been taken by the enemy and were threatening the British forces' communications on 26 June 1944 near the town of Bishenpur in the state of Manipur, India.
Under withering fire Agansing Rai and his party charged a machine-gun. Agansing Rai himself killed three of the crew. When the first position had been taken, he then led a dash on a machine-gun firing from the jungle, where he killed three of the crew, his men accounting for the rest. He subsequently tackled an isolated bunker single-handed, killing all four occupants. The enemy were now so demoralised that they fled and the second post was recaptured.
Further information
He later achieved the rank of Hon. Captain after serving in the Indian Army and died in Kathmandu. Agansing Rai's VC group were sold at auction in 2004 and now form part of the Lord Ashcroft VC collection in the Imperial War Museum in London.