Statue of Kulbir Thapa Magar Unveiled in Aldershot, England.
A statue of Kulbir Thapa Magar, the first Gurkha soldier to receive the Victoria Cross 9VC in the British Army, has been unveiled in Aldershot, England. On the occasion, a minute’s silence was observed in memory of the deceased army personnel. The statue was made by collecting donations from Nepali and foreigners under the leadership of the Greater Rasmore Naples Community.
Kulbir Thapa Magar was born on 15 December 1888 in Palpa, Nepal. He was a 26-year-old Rifleman in the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. On 25 September 1915 in Fauquissart, France Rifleman Kulbir Thapa, having been wounded himself, found a wounded soldier of The Leicestershire Regiment behind the first-line German trench (believed to be a 20-year-old soldier from Melton Mowbray by the name of Bill Keightley). Although urged to save himself, he stayed with the wounded man all day and night.
